By Rich
The Bundesliga will finally resume its 57th season on Saturday after a pause of more than 2 months. Things will be very different, however, as all games will be played in arenas closed to fans, and a few rule changes have been implemented to accommodate potential infections of players with COVID-19. All clubs are required to compete in the remaining matches, provided they have enough healthy players to do so, and each club is also allowed 5 substitutions. This weekend’s feature match will be the Revierderby on Saturday at Signal Iduna Park. Dortmund and standout Erling Haaland are looking to keep pace with Bayern. Dortmund has one of the greatest attacks in football, and another asset is Jadon Sancho, who already has 15 assists this season. Together, Haaland and Sancho have scored more Bundesliga goals in 2020 than have the entire Schalke team. Dortmund will have to do, however, without the services of captain Marco Reus, Axel Witsel, and Emre Can, who are all sidelined with injuries. Schalke have not won a match since they defeated Borussia Mönchengladbach 2:0 back on January 17, and will have to play without the injured defenders Benjamin Stambouli and Salif Sane. Nevertheless, Schalke have only lost 1 of their last 8 derbys with Dortmund, and can look to Weston McKennie to potentially score his 3rd goal of the season. At the other end of the table, Düsseldorf will continue its battle to stay in the 1. Bundesliga when they host Paderborn on Saturday. Fortuna have just 1 win so far in 2020 and are without starting goaltender Zack Steffen, who is out with a knee injury suffered in training. Star striker Rouwen Hennings, who was left on the bench during the last outing against Mainz, is expected to start, but is still looking for his first goal this calendar year. Paderborn’s 4-game losing streak has left the club at the bottom of the table, and Streli Mamba is out for the rest of the season with his own knee injury. The other club in the relegation zone, SV Werder Bremen, will host Leverkusen on Monday. Bremen is currently 4 points behind Düsseldorf in the table, and will face an uphill battle when they take on Leverkusen, thanks in large part to the scoring prowess of Kai Havertz, who has managed to either score or assist in each of his previous 6 matches. He is expected to lead the attack on Monday in the likely absence of Kevin Volland. Bremen have lost their last 6 consecutive home games, and did not even score in 5 of those. If they fail to score in the 6th on Monday, they will tie a record currently held by both Freiburg (in 2009/10) and Stuttgart (in 2014/15).
The Bundesliga will finally resume its 57th season on Saturday after a pause of more than 2 months. Things will be very different, however, as all games will be played in arenas closed to fans, and a few rule changes have been implemented to accommodate potential infections of players with COVID-19. All clubs are required to compete in the remaining matches, provided they have enough healthy players to do so, and each club is also allowed 5 substitutions. This weekend’s feature match will be the Revierderby on Saturday at Signal Iduna Park. Dortmund and standout Erling Haaland are looking to keep pace with Bayern. Dortmund has one of the greatest attacks in football, and another asset is Jadon Sancho, who already has 15 assists this season. Together, Haaland and Sancho have scored more Bundesliga goals in 2020 than have the entire Schalke team. Dortmund will have to do, however, without the services of captain Marco Reus, Axel Witsel, and Emre Can, who are all sidelined with injuries. Schalke have not won a match since they defeated Borussia Mönchengladbach 2:0 back on January 17, and will have to play without the injured defenders Benjamin Stambouli and Salif Sane. Nevertheless, Schalke have only lost 1 of their last 8 derbys with Dortmund, and can look to Weston McKennie to potentially score his 3rd goal of the season. At the other end of the table, Düsseldorf will continue its battle to stay in the 1. Bundesliga when they host Paderborn on Saturday. Fortuna have just 1 win so far in 2020 and are without starting goaltender Zack Steffen, who is out with a knee injury suffered in training. Star striker Rouwen Hennings, who was left on the bench during the last outing against Mainz, is expected to start, but is still looking for his first goal this calendar year. Paderborn’s 4-game losing streak has left the club at the bottom of the table, and Streli Mamba is out for the rest of the season with his own knee injury. The other club in the relegation zone, SV Werder Bremen, will host Leverkusen on Monday. Bremen is currently 4 points behind Düsseldorf in the table, and will face an uphill battle when they take on Leverkusen, thanks in large part to the scoring prowess of Kai Havertz, who has managed to either score or assist in each of his previous 6 matches. He is expected to lead the attack on Monday in the likely absence of Kevin Volland. Bremen have lost their last 6 consecutive home games, and did not even score in 5 of those. If they fail to score in the 6th on Monday, they will tie a record currently held by both Freiburg (in 2009/10) and Stuttgart (in 2014/15).
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