There is something that SC Freiburg has, that no other Bundesliga club has this season – the team from southern Germany is the only club in Germany to have an unbeaten record in all competitions.
Christian Streich’s team has 21 points from their opening 10 games. They will, however, be tested this weekend as they travel to the Bavarian capital to take on Bayern Munich on Saturday. The match will be aired live and in HD on the StarTimes World Football channel.
Despite having lost a game, Bayern are where they spend most of their time: At the summit of the Bundesliga. They have 25 points, while Dortmund are on 24. Freiburg are in third place, three points behind Bayern.
The perennial champions bounced back strongly after a disastrous 5-0 defeat at Borussia Moenchengladbach in the first round of the cup, winning 5-2 at Union Berlin on the weekend.
Super striker Robert Lewandowski grabbed two of the goals to take his overall tally for the season to 12 goals from 10 games and is certainly the player Freiburg will be most concerned about.
Lewandowski is, of course, not the only world class player Bayern have in their ranks, with Leroy Sane, Joshua Kimmich, Dayot Upamecano and Kingsley Coman just some of the others.Streich is aware of the task that awaits his side.
“Bayern have an enormous quality and I expected them to bounce back from the defeat in the cup. Champions do that. They come back stronger from a defeat. Bayern have always done that, otherwise they would not be Bayern.”
Borussia Dortmund, meanwhile, defend their second place in a tough game at RB Leipzig.Their task will not have been made any easier by the absence of Erling Haaland, who could be out until the start of the New Year with a hip flexor problem.
In the absence of the Norwegian international, who has scored nine goals in just six Bundesliga games this season, Belgian international Thorgan Hazard has stepped up, scoring three in the last two games.
Their opponents, meanwhile, are finding the season much harder than they expected and are a disappointing eighth ahead of the game.
Unlike Dortmund, who have a recognised goalgetter in Haaland who generally finds a straight line to goal, RB Leipzig’s goals come from all over, with two players with African roots leading the clubs’ scorer charts with four goals.
Danish international Yussuf Poulsen could be playing international football for Tanzania, where his father hails from, while Christopher Nkunku has a DR Congo background.
Despite not getting on the scorer charts regularly, Mali international Amadou Haidara has been impressive for Leipzig, as he has featured in every match for his team.Football fans in Africa will be able to catch the games live and only on the StarTimes channels as the continent’s leading digital-TV operator has secured the Bundesliga rights.