The difference was bigger, but as expected, Bayern Munich overcame their mini-Bundesliga crisis and they are now firing from all cylinders. The Bavarians reduced their points difference with Union Berlin to only one, and could overtake them (again), just like last weekend, with a win in Berlin against Hertha. On the other hand, as it was the case last season (and season before), the ever present Borussia Dortmund is already behind in the title race with four points and they are not targeting the first place, since they are four points away, they want to leapfrog Freiburg, if they manage to win at home against lowly Bochum.German assassin is quietly sharpening his blade and will be ready for the World CupBayern are unstoppable as they won against Freiburg, Hoffenheim and Mainz in the Bundesliga by an aggregate score of 13-2. They are even better in the Champions League, as they are the only team to have a maximum of 18 points in the group stage, not mentioning they had Barcelona and Inter as their opponents. Keeper Manuel Neuer could finally return after an injury, while Thomas Muller and Matthijs de Ligt will remain at home. Alphonso Davies, Leon Goretzka and Serge Gnabry are all expected to be rotated back into the starting line-up. Leroy Sane and Lucas Hernandez are options again from the bench. And apart from the team stars, there are few unlikely heroes: Choupo-Moting is playing (almost) like Lewandowski, and has scored in three straight Bundesliga games, while Jamal Musiala is the joint-highest-scoring midfielder in Bundesliga.Neuer reveals he has had three operations for skin cancerOn paper, Borussia should have the easiest task this week. Bochum has only two wins and will face a season long survival battle. They surprised league leaders Union Berlin two weeks ago, but fell heavily in Wolfsburg last week 4-0. Their only spark of hope should be the fact that they won in Dortmund last year in a sensational finish, when Haaland scored a hat-trick for 3-2, before Bochum scored two goals in four minutes for the final 4-3 result. The Millionaires will be aware of that painful defeat last season and will try avoid annoying their fans further more. Dortmund are unbeaten in their last four home matches, collecting 10 points from a possible 12 and Terzić should field the strongest squad, which means that captain Marco Reus is in line after an ankle issue, along with Raphael Guerreiro and Gio Reyna. BUNDESLIGAFridayM’ gladbach – Stuttgart 3-1 (2-1)/Hofmann 4, Thuram 25, Hermann 90+4 – Tomas 35/Saturday17.30: (5.00) Augsburg (3.70) Eintr.Frankfurt (1.84)17.30: (1.29) Dortmund (6.50) Bochum (10.0)17.30: (10.0) Hertha (6.25) Bayern (1.33)17.30: (3.00) Hoffenheim (3.50) RB Leipzig (2.50)17.30: (2.14) Mainz (3.50) Wolfsburg (3.80)20.30: (1.73) Werder (3.90) Schalke (5.50)Sunday17.30: (2.24) Leverkusen (3.40) Union Berlin (3.60)19.30: (1.79) Freiburg (3.70) Koln (5.40)***odds are subject to change
