Bundesliga Matchday 33: Bayern face crunch clash with Leipzig

Bayern Munich are looking to take a big step towards clinching the Bundesliga title but they must overcome a tricky opponent in third-placed RB Leipzig. 

Borussia Dortmund will be hoping Bayern slip up and they can take advantage by beating Augsburg away from home. 

Fifth-placed Freiburg face sixth-placed Wolfsburg in what promises to be an entertaining encounter, while Union Berlin can consolidate their top-four spot at Hoffenheim. 

At the other end of the table, bottom side Hertha Berlin must beat fellow relegation candidates Bochum to avoid dropping into the second tier.

Game of the weekend: Bayern Munich vs RB Leipzig (Saturday, 5.30pm)

Bayern Munich go into the penultimate gameweek of the season just one point clear of Borussia Dortmund at the top — the closest a Bundesliga title race has been at this stage for 13 years.

The stakes are high, with the Bavarians facing an RB Leipzig outfit who have proven their quality this term.

Both sides have only allowed 99 shots on target in 2022-23, which is a joint-league low. Overall, Leipzig have faced the fewest shots in the division (284), while Bayern have taken the most (601).

RBL have managed just one win in 16 competitive encounters with Die Roten (six draws, nine defeats), though — and are without a victory in any of their last 11 meetings (five draws, six defeats).

Augsburg vs Borussia Dortmund (Sunday, 4.30pm)

Borussia Dortmund know they must win against Augsburg to take advantage of any potential dropped points by Bayern Munich.

However, Die Borussen have conceded in each of their previous 18 league meetings with FCA and have failed to win either of their last two away matches against the Bavarians (one draw, one defeat).

Dortmund have posted the highest xG per game of any Bundesliga team in 2023 (2.4), while Augsburg's is the lowest (1.1). But only two sides have outperformed their xG more in that timeframe than Enrico Maassen's men (+5.3), including Edin Terzic's side (+12.6) who sit top for this metric.

Giovanni Reyna, who scored in the reverse fixture, netted his fifth goal from the bench against Borussia Monchengladbach last time out — taking BVB's total number of goals scored by substitutes to 14 for the season, which is a league high.

Freiburg vs Wolfsburg (Friday, 7.30pm)

Both Freiburg and Wolfsburg will come into this game with a 6-0 defeat on their minds.

For the former, it was in the reverse fixture between these two and represented their heaviest Bundesliga loss under head coach Christian Streich. For the latter, it was in their last away match against Borussia Dortmund, which was their joint-heaviest defeat in the competition.

But despite both being on the wrong end of 6-0 hammerings this term, the pair do boast the joint-highest number of clean sheets in the division (12 — level with Union Berlin).

These two outfits pose a real threat in the air, having scored a joint-league high seven headed goals in 2023. Over the whole campaign, Freiburg have both scored the most (12) and conceded the fewest (four) such goals.

Hoffenheim vs Union Berlin (Saturday, 2.30pm)

Hoffenheim head into Matchday 33 just two points above the bottom three, while fourth-placed Union Berlin are only three points ahead of Freiburg below them.

No side in the division has scored more goals from corners than the capital club (10), while Hoffenheim have let in the most from such situations (11).

Additionally, Union boast a league-leading seven goals from counter-attacking situations, while their upcoming opponents have faced more shots (26) and conceded more goals (eight) from fast breaks than any other Bundesliga team.

With so many promising routes to goal, Union star Sheraldo Becker — who became the first player in the club's history to contribute directly to four goals in one top-flight game last time out — will be confident of adding to his tally for the season.

Hertha Berlin vs Bochum (Saturday, 2.30pm)

Hertha Berlin are on the brink of relegation and must beat fellow strugglers Bochum in order to avoid the drop.

Both sides have endured difficult campaigns, racking up the joint-most defeats of any teams in the division (19).

Hertha and Bochum have also been exceptionally poor defensively, ranking second-bottom and bottom, respectively, for goals conceded (67 and 71) and expected goals against (56.3 and 64.8).

However, Saturday's hosts have not lost any of their last 13 home games against their upcoming opponents in all competitions (seven wins, six draws), so will hope to build on that strong record and stage a dramatic escape from the drop zone.

The weekend's other games

Schalke vs Eintracht Frankfurt (Saturday, 2.30pm) 

Werder Bremen vs FC Cologne (Saturday, 2.30pm) 

Mainz vs Stuttgart (Sunday, 2.30pm) 

Bayer Leverkusen vs Borussia Monchengladbach (Sunday, 6.30pm) 

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