The 2021-22 Bundesliga season will pass its quarter mark this weekend, with the table starting to take shape at both ends of the standings.
Week nine of the season will begin on Friday night when a Mainz side looking to arrest a three-game losing streak welcome struggling Augsburg to the MEWA Arena.
A further five fixtures will be contested on Saturday, with the top two Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund both in action, while three matches will take place on Sunday, concluding with Eintracht Frankfurt’s trip to Bochum.
No Euro Hangover for BVB
Dortmund had won three matches on the spin across all competitions heading into Tuesday’s Champions League clash with Ajax, but they were comprehensively beaten 4-0 at the Johan Cruyff Arena – their heaviest ever loss in the competition.
BVB will be presented with an opportunity to bounce back from that humiliation when they visit an Arminia Bielefeld side that are winless in the Bundesliga this season on Saturday.
Bielefeld are also winless in six against Dortmund, conceding 19 goals during that time, and there could be another big victory on the cards for the visitors this weekend, with an away win and over 3.5 goals in the match available at 41/20.
To further underline that possibility, Dortmund are the second highest scorers in the Bundesliga this season and have netted in 18 of their last 19 away fixtures in the division.
Freiburg to Maintain Strong Start
The only unbeaten record still standing in the Bundesliga this season belongs to Freiburg, with Christian Streich’s side having picked up four wins and four draws from their opening eight games, including last weekend’s credible stalemate with RB Leipzig.
Freiburg will now put their unbeaten record on the line when they visit a Wolfsburg team on Saturday that are without a win in seven matches across all competitions, losing the previous three.
That poor run of form has seen Die Wolfe slip from the top of the standings down to sixth, while they have only won one of their last six meetings with Freiburg, making the away win appear tempting at 47/20.
That being said, Freiburg have drawn half of their matches in the Bundesliga this season, and with three of the previous five meetings between these two sides having also ended all square, the Freiburg-Draw double chance at 20/29 could represent the safest option.
Frankfurt Resurgence to Continue
It has been a slow start to the season for Eintracht Frankfurt, although the signs are they are starting to rediscover their form after winning three of their previous four across all competitions.
Oliver Glasner’s side will visit a Bochum team on Sunday that have also received a boost following last weekend’s 1-0 win at Greuther Furth, just their second victory since last season’s promotion back to the top flight.
The issue for Bochum is that success was against the Bundesliga’s bottom side and prior to the victory they had taken just one point and scored two goals from their previous five games.
A return to the status quo could well be on the cards for Thomas Reis’ side on Sunday, with Frankfurt priced at 5/4 to claim what would be their sixth successive victory over their hosts.
*All odds correct at time of writing.