Bundesliga picks

Match day 15 promises to be a scintillating weekend, with all four top clubs in the Bundesliga squaring off. It's do-or-die time in the DW Sports vs. Guest Predictors competition as well, with just one point in it. Commiserations to Sacha Pisani of Melbourne, who was unlucky to catch us in a purple patch despite a healthy score - but them's the breaks.

This week's challenger: Stephen Glennon of the Berlin football mag No Dice (@NoDiceMagazine)

Follow us on Twitter (@DW_Sports) for the next chance to be picked to pick!

Friday, December 2

Leverkusen - Hoffenheim

Things seem to be slowly coming together in Leverkusen, thanks partly to the resurgence of Michael Ballack and Eren Derdiyok, and partly to their confidence-building exercise in the Champions League, where they surprised themselves by beating Chelsea. Even last week's slapstick 3-3 in Berlin won't have dented their self-belief much, since that match featured an impressive comeback from 2-0 down. In Hoffenheim, meanwhile, things are less rosy - one win in eight match days speaks for itself, and coach Holger Stanislawski has resorted to banishing players from his first team in an effort to shore up indiscipline.

DW prediction: Leverkusen 3-1
Guest prediction: Leverkusen 2-0

Saturday, December 3

Bayern - Bremen

In what will inevitably described as the first of Bayern's pre-Christmas "cup finals" in the league, the third-placed Bavarians are squaring off against fourth-placed Werder, only two points behind. Another defeat - surely not - and Bayern tumble into fourth. In that event, club president Uli Hoeness, turning a deeper purple with every match, may well literally explode. Franck Ribery has already blown his top in the dressing room at least once. The latest team news is that Claudio Pizarro will be back for Bremen for the match, which should add extra edge to a Werder side who are nothing if not inconsistent (The last four matches: three excellent wins plus a 5-0 tonking at the hands of Gladbach.)

DW prediction: Bayern 2-1
Guest prediction: Bayern 2-1

Freiburg - Hanover

The rule still applies: the best place to play Hanover is anywhere but Hanover. While Mirko Slomka's men remain unbeaten in the AWD-Arena, they've lost four from six on their travels. But then again, current form suggests this could be a good place to correct that imbalance, since Freiburg have been very poor indeed, home and away. It's hard to think of a saving grace for the club from the Breisgau, though their last three games - one win and two draws - is easily their best run of form so far this season. Also, Hanover have only had two days to breathe since a demoralizing defeat against Standard Liege in the Europa League.

DW prediction: Draw 1-1
Guest prediction: Draw 1-1

Kaiserslautern - Hertha Berlin

Three weeks ago, Lautern seemed to be clawing their way out of the swamp at the bottom of the table, with two wins and two draws lifting them temporarily up to 12th place. But then came back-to-back reverses at the hands of Leverkusen and Nuremberg, and now look - they're right back in the quicksand of 15th. If they lose to Berlin and Freiburg beat Hanover, then they can start preparing themselves for a dogfight. Hertha, meanwhile, have flatlined, remaining rooted to tenth place for the past five match days. Defense is their weakness at the moment, even if they're consistently finding the goal up front. Considering the anemic state of Lautern's attack (blanked seven times this season), Hertha should do enough to win.

DW prediction: Hertha 2-1
Guest prediction: Hertha 2-1

Wolfsburg - Mainz

Felix Magath may well be in the middle of a nervous breakdown. Like a jilted teenager, the Wolfsburg coach is, according to reports, literally not speaking to his players since they gifted bottom club Augsburg their first home win of the season last week. There are signs he has forgiven them now. "We have two more training sessions," he said Wednesday. "I'm not sure how much I'll talk, but I will look carefully and then decide who plays." The Wolves have become ridiculously unreadable - a sleek pack of predators against Hanover two weeks ago, they became a litter of mangy mutts against Augsburg. Mainz, for all their Bayern-killing exploits, are still behind them in the table and may be gobbled up if the hounds are hungry.

DW prediction: Wolfsburg 2-0
Guest prediction: Draw 1-1

Mönchengladbach - Dortmund

If you watch only one football match this weekend, make this it. First plays second with only goal difference keeping Dortmund in the lead. Neither side will settle for a draw, either, because a Bayern win means they will leapfrog the pair of them - crisis over, natural order re-aligned. Gladbach are at home, where they are still unbeaten in the league, but they may be without goal-machine Marco Reus, the inspirational 22-year-old struggling with a fractured little toe. The decision about whether he plays may only be made Saturday. And that toe could be the decisive factor, so well-matched do these sides seem to be - both clubs are on nine wins, two draws and three defeats so far this season.

DW prediction: Draw 2-2
Guest prediction: Dortmund 2-1

Stuttgart - Cologne

While form, league position and home advantage all suggest that Stuttgart are the favorites here, as many as four of their first team have been laid low this week. Attackers Cacau and Martin Harnik have both caught the flu, while midfielders Christian Gentner and Tamas Hajnal are trying to shake off minor injuries. They could all still play though. Cologne might look erratic, having just suffered two defeats on the bounce, but these were against top four sides (Bremen and Gladbach). They've also beaten the likes of Leverkusen and Hanover this season. Stuttgart are much more their size, and with the attacking talent they have, Cologne could make the Swabians suffer.

DW prediction: Cologne 2-1
Guest prediction: Draw 1-1

Sunday, December 4

Hamburg - Nuremberg

It's the bizarro north-south match-up, not third-placed Munich vs. fourth-placed Bremen, but 14th (Nuremberg) playing 15th (Hamburg), with each struggling to hand the wooden spoon to the other. They might be side-by-side in the league, but their trajectories are crossing - on match day 6, for example, Nuremberg were sitting pretty in seventh, while Hamburg were at the bottom in 18th. The Hamburgers are on a six-match unbeaten run and are looking more solid by the week, while the Franconians managed to ship 10 goals in three games not long ago. Last week's 1-0 victory over Kaiserslautern was vital. Could be a close one, but we don't think Nuremburg is strong enough to stop Hamburg's surge.

DW prediction: Hamburg 2-1
Guest prediction: Hamburg 2-0

Schalke - Augsburg

Schalke had a Europa League match on Thursday, meaning they, like Hanover, will have their squads stretched this weekend. Lucky then, that they're hosting Augsburg, the Bundesliga's closest thing to a sure-fire relegation bet. Last week's anemic display against Dortmund notwithstanding, the Royal Blues are in fine fettle at the moment, having beaten Leverkusen, Hoffenheim and Nuremberg in quick succession recently, and sewn up first place in their Europa League group with a match to spare. Augsburg's win over Wolfsburg last week will have given them confidence, but that too was surely an optical illusion created by the hapless Wolves.

DW prediction: Schalke 3-0
Guest prediction: Schalke 3-0

Last week's results:

DW Sports: 9 points

Guest: Sacha Pisani (@Sachk0) of Melbourne, Australia: 5 points

DW total for the season: 84 points

Guest total for the season: 85 points

Three points for a correct score prediction

Two points for a correct winning margin prediction

One point for a correct winner prediction

Author: Ben Knight
Editor: Matt Hermann