The weekend’s Budesliga action kicks off on Friday evening when Hoffenheim take on RB Leipzig.

It’s a start of a new era for Hoffenheim, who will have caretaker manager Marcel Rapp in charge, after the German side sacked Alfred Schruder with only four games remaining, despite picking up seven points from their last three matches.

The visitors are unbeaten since the league returned, despite dropping six points after draws against Freiburg, Hertha Berlin and bottom side Paderborn, they currently sit in third place in the League.

Leipzig certainly don’t suffer from travel sickness, having won nine times so far on their travels. One more win on the road would see them break a new club record.

Saturday’s action starts off with FC Cologne entertaining Union Berlin.

The hosts will be looking to get back to winning ways after failing to win in their past three games. The visitors, who drew with Schalke last Sunday, will be without Robert Andrich through suspension and will also be missing at least five players due to injuries.

Cologne are also struggling with injured players and could see four of their squad ruled out of Saturday’s clash.

The omens don’t look to promising for Cologne, having not beaten their opponents in three previous meetings.

Struggling Fortuna Dusseldorf welcome second place Dortmund to the Merker Spiel Arena on Saturday afternoon.

Dusseldorf, who have had only one victory in their last five games, will be after all three points on offer to ease their relegation worries. The home side picked up a point last week against Hoffenheim, whilst Dortmund claimed all three points after defeating Hertha Berlin.

When these sides met back in December, Dortmund ran out convincing 5-0 winners and on paper it looks more than likely that Dortmund will claim their ninth win on the road and leave Dusseldorf looking over their shoulders in their fight to get away from trouble.

Hertha Berlin meet Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday, with just three points separating the sides in the table.

The visitors come into the game on the back of a poor run of form which has seen them win just once in their last six matches. The home side are currently decimated by injuries with no less than seven players out of action, including long term casualties Luca Netz and Salomon Kalou.

The clash of the weekend at the foot of the table sees Paderborn take on Werder Bremen. The home side trail Bremen by five points and are already looking doomed for relegation.

Both sides can’t buy a win at the moment with Bremen claiming their last victory against Schalke, whilst Paderborn haven’t won for ten games.

The home side will be without the suspended due of Uwe Hunemeier and Streli Mamba.

It’s sixth against eighth when Wolfsburg play Freiberg on Saturday.

The hosts have peaked at the right time of the season with four wins in their last five games.

Freiberg go into the game on the back of a fine 1-0 victory over Munchangladbach last Friday.

In the past this fixture has produced plenty of goals, with the likely outcome more of the same this weekend.

Top of the table Bayern Munich entertain fourth placed Borussia Mounchangladbach on Saturday.

Bayern who head the table by seven points will be after another win which will give them one hand on the Bundesliga. However, Bayern will be without the services of both Robert Lewandowski and Thomas Muller who are suspended for one game.

This should undoubtably be the game of the weekend with Bayern 11 wins at home against Borussia with seven victories on the road.

The visitors won’t want to suffer another 5-1 defeat, which has happened to them against Bayern twice in the last four meetings between the sides.

On Sunday Mainz are at home to Augsburg, with just a single point separating the sides in the table.

Mainz have really struggled at home with just four wins to date whilst Augsburg have also struggled, this time on the road with just three victories. However, on the head to head it is Augsburg who have the better record with four wins out of five in their previous meetings.

Mid table Schalke entertain fifth placed Bayer Leverkusen on Sunday.

The home side are struggling at the moment with no win in their past six games but it’s a different story for Leverkusen who currently have posted four wins in their last seven games.

The hosts injury woes continue with no less than eight players out with injuries. Levekusen’s only doubt for the game is Karim Bellarabi who has been struggling with a hamstring problem.