Following a defeat for Bayern Munich against Mainz, who is best placed to win the Bundesliga crown this season…

Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund remain locked in a tight race for the Bundesliga after Bayern surrendered first place this weekend following a defeat against Mainz 05. Union Berlin, much to my chagrin, with their win over Borussia Mönchengladbach, shortened the gap to Bayern as did Freiburg with a victory over struggling Schalke.

Let us start with Dortmund’s fixture list and conjecture what might happen. Dortmund currently sits on 60 points.

VfL Bochum (away): Bochum is in a relegation fight, sitting just outside the bottom three. Bochum gave Union Berlin a hard time two weeks ago and picked up points against Eintracht Frankfurt. In addition, this match is a derby and, in matches involving city rivals, form tends to go out the window. I can see Dortmund mess up in this one but I think they will get away with a mistake or two.

Bochum 1-2 Borussia Dortmund

VfL Wolfsburg (home): Wolfsburg is well within a shout for a Europa Conference League spot and has been a tough team to play; they have had some big wins this season including a 6-0 win over Freiburg. However, Niko Kovac’s team has been hot and cold overall and I am inclined to lean toward Dortmund in this one, especially at home. That being said, Wolfsburg is the second best team behind Bayern when it comes to away form.

Dortmund 3-2 Wolfsburg

Borussia Mönchengladbach (home): Gladbach, considering all the upcoming departures and with pretty much nothing to play for, might be the ideal opponent for Borussia Dortmund at this point. Gladbach has only one win on the road, although their counterattacking abilities remain dangerous.

Dortmund 4-0 Gladbach

Augsburg (away): Augsburg currently sits five points above the bottom three and might be secured a Bundesliga spot for next season. Augsburg is difficult to break down and this is one where I think Dortmund will drop points, especially if Augsburg is not assured of survival by then.

Augsburg 1-1 Dortmund

Mainz (home): Again, how Mainz plays might come down to if they are still in contention for a European spot. Mainz, nonetheless, presses incessantly and Dortmund does not do well when pressed, as based on Der Klassiker. This is one in which I also think Dortmund will drop points.

Dortmund 2-2 Mainz

Points tally: 11

Let’s head to Union Berlin now, who sits pretty on 55 points in third.

Bayer Leverkusen (home): Leverkusen can defend apparently as witnessed by the amount of defending they did against RB Leipzig! Their form is unbelievably good right now and they have only picked up fewer points than Dortmund this calendar year.

Union Berlin 1-2 Bayer Leverkusen

Augsburg (away): This promises to be a tough, physical encounter. Union Berlin struggles against scrappy teams closer to the bottom and again, I think they will drop points in this one as well.

Augsburg 1-1 Union Berlin

SC Freiburg (home): This encounter could turn out to be a vital one in the title race as well as the Champions League spots. This is perhaps the most difficult to predict but, Freiburg’s attack has seemed sharp lately. However, Union is yet to lose a game at home this season and has conceded the fewest number of goals up to this point (31).

Union Berlin 2-1 SC Freiburg

Hoffenheim (away): Hoffenheim is a team battling to survive but their natural inclination is to play on the front foot. This suits Union and Union should win this one.

Hoffenheim 0-2 Union Berlin

Werder Bremen (home): Werder finally won their first game in seven matches this weekend against Hertha and has generally been struggling lately. Bremen is also a team that likes to play on the front foot, which suits Union as well.

Union Berlin 2-1 Werder Bremen

Points tally: 10

Now, let’s turn to Bayern Munich!

Hertha Berlin (home): Hertha Berlin’s season has gone from bad to worse; they dismissed Sandro Schwartz recently and hired Pal Dardai again to see out the season. Even in Bayern’s current state, they should be able to win against Hertha.

Bayern 1-0 Hertha Berlin

Werder Bremen (away): If there is one team which Bayern consistently seems to win against, no matter how dire the circumstance, it is this fixture. However, Bremen scores a lot of goals considering their position in the table (47 for the season) and Bayern will concede. Once they do, will they be able to keep their composure? It is hard to say, considering Bayern has not scored multiple goals in a game since the first of April.

Werder Bremen 1-1 Bayern

Schalke (home): Again, this might be a potential banana skin . Schalke is battling really hard for survival and has picked up points when not expected to do so. That being said, this is a fixture which Bayern tends to win and might be the game in which they finally score more than one goal.

Schalke 0-2 Bayern

RB Leipzig (home): Despite what happened against Manchester City, Leipzig’s attack has been producing good results; they struggled against Leverkusen’s brilliant defending but, plenty of last minute tackles were put in to prevent Leipzig from scoring by Jonathan Tah and colleagues at the back. Considering the current state of both teams, Leipzig looks more likely to win this fixture.

RB Leipzig 1-1 Bayern

Köln (away): Köln has been decent and Bayern dropped points to them at the beginning of the calendar year. This could again be difficult and Bayern might drop points in this fixture as well; however, if they manage to score multiple goals in a fixture before this one rolls around, Bayern should win this. It is hard to trust the Bavarians currently nonetheless.

Köln 1-1 Bayern

Points tally: 9

Finally, let’s look at SC Freiburg:

Köln (away): Freiburg looked fantastic against Schalke this weekend and has done the job when it comes to picking up points against teams in the bottom half of the table or in midtable.

Freiburg 2-0 Köln

RB Leipzig (home): In a weird scenario for Freiburg, they have a cup/league double header for the second time this season. They play Leipzig right after they play them in the DFB Pokal. Leipzig has a stronger squad and is more equipped to handle a midweek game. If Freiburg can defend the way in which Leverkusen did this weekend, they can take something out of this one:

Freiburg 1-1 RB Leipzig

Union Berlin (away): See the Union Berlin section above
Wolfsburg (home): While Wolfsburg has been hot and cold this season, Freiburg has been a model of consistency. Also, considering the 6-0 defeat at the hands of Wolfsburg that Freiburg suffered, they have reason to go into this game with extra motivation. Lightning won’t surely strike twice.

Freiburg 2-1 Wolfsburg

Eintracht Frankfurt (away): It seems that Frankfurt’s eggs at this point are all in the DFB Pokal basket. They seem spent; nonetheless, they should make the cup final which means that they will perhaps think less about the league than they already are.

Frankfurt 0-1 Freiburg

Points tally: 10

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Final tally:

Dortmund: 71
Bayern: 68
Union Berlin: 65
SC Freiburg: 63

Looking for more analysis mixed with a bad-tempered rant? Then check out our postgame podcast! Explicit content warning because there’s swearing, it really was that kind of game. Listen to it below or on Spotify.

As always, we appreciate all the support.