Can Dortmund make a statement to the rest of the world by shocking Bayern Munich at the Signal Iduna Park again? Is there any hope of a climb back up the Bundesliga table for Union Berlin with an upset over Bayer Leverkusen? How much will the injury crisis hurt Stuttgart vs. Werder Bremen? Will Freiburg or Borussia Monchengladbach take a step closer to the Champions League? And can RB Leipzig stop the bleeding when they take on Wolfsburg?
I will attempt to answer these questions and make some score predictions for each of the matchups in what is shaping up to be a very interesting Matchday 12 in the Bundesliga this weekend.
St. Pauli vs. Holstein Kiel
St. Pauli and Holstein Kiel are two great underdogs in northern Germany who spend a lot of time battling to make it back up to the Bundesliga, but now that both of them are in the top flight at the same time, they are at serious risk of heading down together with St. Pauli in 16th and Kiel in 17th.
Both sides have fewer than 10 points in the table, and St. Pauli are actually one of only two teams with fewer than 10 goals scored. That’s surprising, too, given the Kiezkicker were known for their high-flying attacking exploits in the 2. Bundesliga.
Kiel, meanwhile, have one of the worst defenses in the Bundesliga with 28 goals allowed – only Bochum, in last, are worse – so something has to give on Friday night.
I think St. Pauli will do just enough to win 2-1, with Swedish defender Eric Smith pulling out another miracle goal at around the 80 minute mark to seal it for the home side.
Union Berlin vs. Bayer Leverkusen
Union Berlin has the makings of a “trap” opponent for Bayer Leverkusen, who are fresh off a Florian Wirtz-fueled drubbing of RB Salzburg in the Champions League.
In truth, Leverkusen have been mildly disappointing this season in their follow-up from an undefeated 2023/24 campaign, but they are still in a Champions League spot in fourth and, at times, look like one of the most dangerous teams in all of Europe.
Union made the Champions League in a miracle run a couple of seasons ago, and while they were threatened with relegation last season, they have bounced back in 2024/25 and even flirted with a top-four place to start the campaign.
I don’t think 10th-placed Union will win this one, but they’ll do more than enough to make this an interesting Saturday morning affair, with Leverkusen needing some more Wirtz heroics in the box to squeak out a 2-1 victory.
RB Leipzig vs. Wolfsburg
Der Klassiker tends to overshadow the attention internationally, but as Derek Rae pointed out in his column for ESPN, those within Germany tend to pay close attention to the other games, too, and this matchup will be one of the more intriguing ones this weekend.
Although RB Leipzig are third in the Bundesliga table, the corporate club are dealing with rumors of unrest around manager Marco Rose’s future, as they remain pointless in the Champions League in what has been a nightmarish international campaign.
In fact, Leipzig have lost four of their last five games and haven’t won in the Bundesliga since Oct. 26 when they took down Champions League challengers Freiburg.
Saturday’s home matchup against Wolfsburg is a chance to get things right against another corporate-owned side that has been very disappointing of late, toiling in mid-table as they watch Omar Marmoush light the rest of the league in Frankfurt.
Leipzig should win this one 3-2, and they are going to need to ride the talents of their striker partnership in order to do it.
Werder Bremen vs. Stuttgart
The Stuttgart injury crisis led to an especially embarrassing result at mid-week, as former star Silas helped Red Star Belgrade carve Die Schwaben up in what amounted to a 5-1 loss that the whole world watched.
Stuttgart won’t have it any easier this Saturday against a decent Werder Bremen side that can put points on the board with Mitchell Weiser feeding one of the league’s most underrated players in Marvin Ducksch.
Although Stuttgart have won just one of their last five games, they will still be the favorites after qualifying for the Champions League last season. Their fate may rest in the hands of how much goal threat Chris Furhich can offer in what has been a difficult follow-up season for the German left winger, and, ultimately, I think Stuttgart and Bremen will have to share the spoils in 1-1 draw.
Freiburg vs. Borussia Monchengladbach
If it weren’t for Der Klassiker, I would have Freiburg vs. Borussia Monchengladbach atop the list of my best games to watch in the Bundesliga this weekend, because these are two smaller clubs who produce quality footballers and made it to the top five within the last five years.
Freiburg just missed out on the Champions League with a fifth-placed finish in 2022/23, while Gladbach were led by Marcus Thuram and Alassane Plea up top in 2020/21 and were able to get results against the likes of Real Madrid in Europe’s premier competition.
In 2024/25, Gladbach and Freiburg are sixth and seventh in the table, respectively. There’s not much to separate these two sides, so I’ll take a 2-2 draw here.
Augsburg vs. Bochum
Bochum just might be the worst team in European football right now with just two points in the Bundesliga table and a -22 goal differential. They aren’t going to get stomped on the road against Augsburg, but, let’s just say, I have a very hard time picking against Augsburg, even though they are 14th themselves.
I’ll have this one going 1-0 for Augsburg with 27-year-old forward Philip Tietz netting his fourth of the season to become his team’s leading scorer.
Dortmund vs. Bayern Munich
Now this is the game everyone around the world will be tuning in to see on Saturday, and if Dortmund are to have a snowball in hell’s chance of winning the Bundesliga, then they will need to get a win here at home.
Der Klassiker is often a key barometer game for Dortmund. It shows the world if they legitimately have a chance at winning the title – as in 2018/19 (the first game) or 2022/23. But it can also tell us when they are dead to rights, as in almost every other head-to-head matchup, especially at the Allianz Arena.
Dortmund have had some highs this season, such as a surprise 4-0 blowout of a solid Freiburg side last weekend. But they’ve had arguably more lows under a, quite frankly, overmatched rookie coach in club icon Nuri Sahin.
Sitting in fifth, Dortmund have to prove they are even ready for the Champions League next season. With so many question marks permeating their squad and an over-reliance on Serhou Guirassy in big games, I have Bayern winning this one, and I don’t think it’ll be particularly close.
This has the makings of a statement game for Vincent Kompany, with Dortmund being on the wrong side of a 4-0 blowout as Jamal Musiala and Michael Olise signal a changing of the guard in Bavaria by leading the way with two goal contributions each.
Mainz vs. Hoffenheim
Mainz vs. Hoffenheim is another rivalry matchup worth keeping an eye on this weekend as part of an intriguing double-header of Sunday games in the Bundesliga.
Currently in the top half of the table, Mainz are getting results with their trademark fearless, attacking style, while Hoffenheim are wasting what is a very talented squad.
I expect both teams to share the spoils, with Hoffenheim getting a shock late goal from Andrej Kramaric to steal a 2-2 draw on the road.
Heidenheim vs. Eintracht Frankfurt
Heidenheim lost 2-0 to Chelsea in the Conference League, but they honestly came close to upsetting the top-four Premier League giants and affirmed their status as probably the second-best team in the competition behind the Blues.
Kevin Muller was heroic in goal, while Paul Wanner and the other attacking players were top Filip Jorgensen saves and gilt-edged offside calls from at least two goals of their own.
With how exciting they play and the talent in their squad, it’s hard to believe they are near the drop zone. They will bring more fireworks for their home fans, but, ultimately, the trio of Hugo Larsson, Hugo Ekitike, and, of course, Omar Marmoush will prove to be too much.
I could see Marmoush bagging a hat trick in a 5-3 thriller, so, again, don’t sleep on these two Sunday matches as even bigger highlights of the week quality-wise than Der Klassiker.
The managing editor of The Trivela Effect, Kevin has 15 years of experience in digital media. He covered Real Madrid from 2019-2022 for The Real Champs as a site manager. You can contact him at the site’s official Twitter handle @TrivelaEffect or via the site’s official email thetrivelaeffect@gmail.com.