Last Updated : 10th May, 2020 By Steve A

VENUE

various venues in Germany

TIME

Saturday 16 May - Sunday 17 May

See Stats

The wait is over for one of the top leagues in Europe to make its return. The German Bundesliga resumes on Saturday 16 May and over three days there are a full set of fixtures planned. It could be a success or we could be back in suspension before we know it. Our preview looks ahead at the games taking place this coming weekend as teams bid to catch leaders Bayern Munich.

Saturday 16 May

Borussia Dortmund v Schalke 04 - 2.30pm KO

Borussia Dortmund resume the season in second place, four points behind leaders Bayern Munich. Before the season was suspended, Dortmund had won four league games in a row taking them up to second above RB Liepzig. They had kept three straight clean sheets before a 2-1 away win at fourth-placed Borussia Monchengladbach. 

Their last actual match was back on 11 March when being knocked out of the Champions League by PSG. Back home in Germany though, they have been depending on their home form to keep in the title hunt. They have the best home record in the Bundesliga with nine wins and three draws. 41 goals have been scored with only ten conceded, that's the best scoring and defensive records. They had played seven straight home league games in which they scored at least three goals. That run ended when only being able to defeat Freiburg 1-0 back on the last day of February. That was their fourth straight home league victory with an aggregate score of 15-1. They are unbeaten in their last 13 home league matches with the last defeat actually being inflicted by Schalke in April of last year and that's their only home league defeat in 29 games.

Are Schalke in a position to inflict another defeat on Dortmund? The two sides drew 0-0 in the reverse fixture and they come into this game in sixth place. That's the final Europa League qualifying position but they only have a point lead over Wolfsburg in seventh. They probably appreciated the Bundesliga being suspended as they were in poor form in March. They have no wins in their last eight league and cup games with just four points earned from their last seven league games. 

Their away form is mixed with four wins, four defeats and four losses. They have no win in their last six away league games and haven't even scored in the last four with eight goals conceded. Schalke may be sixth but they have a negative goal difference due to some recent heavy losses. They haven't won an away league game since the end of November and another one isn't looking likely here. A Dortmund win with them leading at half and full time is the predicted result here.

RB Liepzig v Freiburg - 2.30pm KO

RB Liepzig are third in the Bundesliga and five points adrift of Bayern Munich. They were in good form before the suspension with a six-game unbeaten record. Their last match was their 3-0 home Champions League victory over Tottenham Hotspur. The former league leaders were losing ground in the title race though with two straight draws against Bayer Leverkusen and Wolfsburg.

Home form has been good this season though with just one loss in 12 league games. That loss was inflicted by Schalke 04 back in September, since then they have gone nine without a loss with one loss in 19. Only 13 home goals have been conceded, the third best record in the league with only Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich conceding less. 

Freiburg are eighth in the league and only a point behind the final Europa League qualifying position. They had been struggling for form before the league was suspended. Their last game was a 3-1 home win but that's the only victory they have had in their last eight league fixtures. Away form is a bit of a problem for them this season. They started well with three wins in a row but have just one win from the last ten. Freiburg's season got off to a good start with 14 points from their first seven games. It's gone downhill since though with 22 from the last 18 matches. Another loss (which would be their tenth league defeat of the season) looks likely here.

Sunday 17 May

Union Berlin v Bayern Munich - 5pm KO

Bayern Munich made a slow start to the new Bundesliga season. At one stage, they were outside the Champions League places but have turned their season around. They have nine wins and a draw from their last ten league games scoring 32 goals and conceding just five. That's given them a four-point lead at the top of the table with nine games to go.

The league leaders have won 17 of their 25 league games and wit 73 goals are the top goal scorers in the Bundesliga. They also have the joint best defensive record with 26 conceded, though only 10 have been scored against them in the last 15. Bayern have won eight out of 12 away games and were steamrolling opponents in the weeks leading up to the suspension. Their last five away league games have been won by an aggregate score of 20-3 so Union Berlin need to be very worried about this game.

The home side are 11th in the table and seven points behind the final Europa League place. However, they are only eight above the relegation play-off position, so need a few more points to avoid trouble. Before suspension, they had won one of their last four league games and one of the last three at home. Union Berlin have won six at home in the Bundesliga but lost five. There haven't been that many goals though with 18 scored and 16 conceded.  The reverse fixture was lost 2-1 and Bayern can complete the league double on Sunday in a game with over 2.5 goals scored.