Match day 11 saw defending Bundesliga champions Bayern drop points for the first time this season away at Frankfurt, while second-placed Dortmund won away at Bremen — closing the gap at the top. Match day 12 includes the Revierderby, Bundesliga in-form side Gladbach face away day specialists Ingolstadt and Bayern face improving Stuttgart.

Bundesliga This Week:

A very crucial Revierderby for both Dortmund and Schalke

One of Germany’s most pristine derbies is on show this weekend on match day 12. Both Dortmund and Schalke have started the season well in second and fourth respectively. This weekend will be the 146th meeting between the two giants, with Schalke edging 57 wins to Dortmund’s 48. Tuchel’s Dortmund started this campaign brightly with five wins out of five before two consecutive draws and a defeat to Bayern saw them lose ground on the Bavarian club.

Since then, Dortmund have won three out of three, scoring ten goals in the process. Breitenreiter’s Schalke won four games in a row earlier in the season to sit nicely in third behind their rivals. Since then, the Royal Blues have been inconsistent dropping points to Ingolstadt and getting beaten at home by Koln. Dortmund will be encouraged by Bayern dropping points last time out, while Schalke will want to keep pace with their top-flight rivals.

Breitenreiter will be quite wary of a free-scoring Dortmund, with the forward talent of Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Pierre-Emerick Aubayemang and Marco Reus, all of whom are in great scoring form coming to this weekend. While Schalke possess presence in all departments with captain Benedikt Howedes and Matija Nastasic to keep the goals at bay, going forward Max Meyer and Leroy Sane will prove a threat to Dortmund’s back line.

Frontzeck keen to carry on good Hannover form

Hannover failed to win any of their first seven Bundesliga outings. Since then the Lower-Saxony side have won three out of their last four, making them one of the form sides in Germany’s top flight. This weekend Frontzeck’s side kick off match day 11 with a home tie against sixth-placed Hertha. Last weekend Bruno Labbadia’s side were at the end of a battering at home to Gladbach.

Hannover’s problems vary each week from a shaky defence one week, to a side that lack in the final third the next, so this inconsistent patch will have to change if they are to extend their good run. The Reds will be confident with a rocked Berlin defence and after coming back from a goal down to defeat Hamburg last time out, Frontzeck will be raring his side to extend their good form on Friday. However, Hannover have only registered one win in front of their own fans so Hertha will be quietly confident going west to the HDI Arena.

Gladbach’s dazzling Raffael relishing prosperous time

Brazilian Raffael has been bright spark playing in the Bundesliga, scoring 15 and 12 times respectively in his two seasons at Gladbach — not bad for a winger. Andre Schubert has won six consecutive league fixtures since replacing Lucien Favre at the helm. One of the players thriving under Schubert is 30-year-old Raffael. The former Dynamo Kiev man has netted five times and has assisted six times since Schubert’s arrival.

The Foals face Ingolstadt at Borussia Park looking for their seventh straight win as Gladbach look towards the top of the Bundesliga. Ingolstadt set a record of becoming the first the newly promoted side to win their first three away games in a row. Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side have also conceded the second fewest number of goals so far this campaign. An impressive nine goals in 12 games sums up their impressive start to their debut season. In some regards, this could be Schubert’s toughest game.