Bundesliga week 31

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

No doubting game of the week in round 31: Stuttgart v Wolfsburg. The Wolves remain top of the table after thumping Hoffenheim last week while the Swabians just fell off the pace a little as they were held by lowly Arminia. Will Wolfsburg be rocked by the impending departure of Felix Magath? Doubtful, though at least Magath admitted in the week that "We are in professional sport and it is all about money. Everything else is a load of tosh." Fair enough Felix. It's all about the goal scorers this one. Grafite and Edin Dzeko are both on form for Wolfsburg while Mario Gomez is Stuttgart's leading man. It promises to be a cracker.

The other stand-out fixture is Bremen against Hamburg who meet for the third time in ten days following their UEFA Cup skirmish. That ended 3-3 on aggregate with Bremen progressing to the final on away goals, thanks to the intervention of a plastic cup which diverted a ball out for a corner from which Bremen went 3-1 up on the night. They face Shakhtar Donetsk in that final, but Hamburg are still in the title hunt and will be out for revenge. Bremen star Diego is interesting Juventus as he continues to hunt for a way out of the Weserstadion.

Ralf Rangnick is staying put at Hoffenheim despite recent comments about a lack of ambition at the club and he's been promised a war chest from owner Dietmar Hopp as they look to make a better fist of it next season. Can they break their duck for the year this week? Doubtful. Suspensions and injuries leave Rangnick with a skeleton squad and Cologne are a tidy side. Jupp Heynckes takes Bayern to Cottbus where Energie are going well and a win for the Easterners there would put massive pressure on their relegation rivals. Gladbach, Arminia and Karlsruhe all have tough games - against Schalke, Leverkusen and Dortmund respectively - and it'd be a surprise to see any of them take maximum points. Dortmund are coming up fast on the rails with a great run. Time is against them though as they're eight points off Wolfsburg with four games to go, but they're definitely not out of making the Champions League. Hannover are all but safe and they take on Eintracht who aren't quite yet. The Frankfurters need points and this may be their best opportunity of getting them before the season's end.

There's a round in midweek next week too as the season draws to an end.