The Bundesliga returns

Friday:
Hamburg v Bayern
Saturday:
Cologne v Wolfsburg
Hoffenheim v Energie
Dortmund v Leverkusen
Stuttgart v Mönchengladbach
Hertha v Eintracht
Hannover v Schalke
Sunday:
Bochum v Karlsruhe
Bremen v Arminia

No doubting the top game as Germany's top league kicks back into action. In fact, as this is being typed, the sides are just about to emerge onto the field at the NordbankArena in Hamburg where SV are about to take on FC Bayern. "We're not scared" says Hamburg boss Martin Jol, but Bayern's 5-1 cup win over Stuttgart was mightily impressive and, if anything, flattered Stuttgart. They could even afford a comedy penalty miss from Franck Ribéry in that and they're at strength tonight. Hamburg started the season well, leading for a long time, but have slipped to fourth and have lost Rafael van der Vaart, Vincent Kompany and now Nigel de Jong along the way. They still have the hugely impressive Mladen Petric on board and ex-Bayerners Marcell Jansen and Paolo Guerrero. Ivica Olic - set to join Bayern in the summmer - misses out due to suspension having thumped Hoffenheim's Carlos Eduardo before the break.

Hoffenheim will be looking to take advantage should Bayern slip up at Hamburg as they take on lowly Energie Cottbus on Saturday. With Vedad Ibsevic out for the rest of the season, TSG moved quickly to fill the gap, securing the season-long loan of Bremen striker Boubacar Sanogo. He'll be partnered by Demba Ba with Chinedu Obasa injured and Eduardo suspended for his part in the Olic punch-up. Cottbus have won just once at home and are deep in the mire at the wrong end of the table.

Hertha lie third and host the erratically inconsistent Eintracht with massive injury problems. Lucien Favre is without six first-teamers, though new signings from Real Betis Leandro Cuffre and Marko Babic are available. Eintracht are in the same sort of boat, also without six and also with a new man making his debut. Nikola Petkovic should start at the back. Schalke have a seemingly straightforward trip to Hannover, though Jermaine Jones and Orlando Engelaar will be suspended having both seen red in their last league game, a 1-1 draw with Hoffenheim, which leaves Fred Rutten short in the midfield. He spent big in the summer on the likes of Jefferson Farfan and Engelaar and seventh place at the turn isn't good enough for the exacting fans in Gelsenkirchen. Hannover are just about keeping their heads above water, but it will be tough for them to hold Schalke at bay.

Leverkusen lie in fifth, just three points off the top and a solitary point behind third placed Hertha and they face Dortmund this week in a tasty looking clash. The veteran midfielder Bernd Schneider is out injured as is Vratislav Gresko, but Lukas Sinkiewicz returns. Tranquilo Barnetta, the young Swiss winger, is an exciting player who Dortmund will have to keep close tabs on. Dortmund are without three due to injury and one to suspension, but are on something of a mission having been dumped out of the cup by Bremen last week. A fan died at that game after falling over a barrier and Jurgen Klopp has said that any win would be dedicated to him.

Stuttgart are unbeaten in the league since Markus Babbel took over. Stuffed by Bayern in the cup, keeper Jens Lehmann laid into his team-mates claiming they don't train hard enough - an outburst that cost him twelve grand, but there's no better way of getting back on the horse that with a home game against Mönchengladbach. They're rubbish. Really rubbish. They do have a rare young talent in Marko Marin, but Hans Meyer looks set to start without him for "tactical reasons". With tactical reasoning like that, is it any wonder they're absolutely rock bottom? Just four point separate Wolfsburg and Cologne and their match could be interesting. Cologne skipper and top scorer Milivoje Novakovic is banned for this one, but taking his place will be Sergui Radu, on loan to Cologne from Wolfsburg. Brazilian hot-shot Grafite is back for Wolfsburg, though perhaps not quite 100% fit. His hat-trick in the cup against Hansa Rostock will help the healing process though as he looks to add to the eleven goals he's already bagged this season.

Bremen host perennial strugglers Arminia Bielefeld and there's a bottom of the table clash at Bochum where Karlsruhe are the visitors on Sunday. Bremen shouldn't have many issues, especially being the home side, while a winner in the game at Bochum will really give them some breathing space while virtually sending Gladbach down already. So that'll be a draw.