Bundesliga week 26

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

Massive game at the bottom of the table this week in the Bundesliga where Gladbach go to Karlsruhe. After slipping up against Bochum last time, Gladbach will be desperate for the points against a side now drinking in the last chance saloon. Karlsruhe need wins, but they'll start this one second favourites. Bochum welcome Markus Babbel's Stuttgart to the rewirpowerStadion and if they can build on that win over Gladbach, they'll be doing well. Stuttgart remain on the fringes of the sharp end, but it'll take a huge push for them to become contenders. Arminia kick things off this weekend with a home tie against managerless Schalke. How the Gelsenkirchen side react to developments is key here. They have good players, so how they've ended up in the slough of mediocrity in which they find themselves is something of a mystery. Hannover can take advantage of Bremen's continuing woes as they edge to safety and there's another big game down at the wrong end when Energie go to Frankfurt. Goalless draw has been writ large over this one.

Up at the top, Hertha welcome Dortmund to the Olympiastadion while the other four contenders all play each other. Hertha wobbled last time, opening up a wide open race yet further and they'll have to be on their mettle to take this one. Hoffenheim's run of draws have seen them slip away from the pack in recent weeks and they go to Hamburg who are back on track after dropping away for a while. A draw there would be a good result, although it wouldn't help the title push much. Ralf Rangnick needs wins. But the really big game is Bayern's trip to Wolfsburg. The Wolves had Edin Dzeko in fine international form as well, scoring in both of Bosnia's wins over Belgium in the week while Bayern's goal quest will be helped/hindered (delete as applicable) by the return of Luca Toni. There are three games there that could go a very long way to determining the outcome of this fascinating title race.