Bundesliga matchday 6 preview: leaders Freiburg go to Leverkusen, Bayern host Leipzig, Dortmund at Union

SC Freiburg and Borussia Dortmund share the lead on 13 points after five rounds, Freiburg ahead on goal difference, and both are away this weekend. The match to watch first is on Sunday, when Freiburg go to fourth-placed Bayer Leverkusen without their suspended top scorer. Dortmund are at Union Berlin on Saturday afternoon, and on Saturday evening Bayern München, two points off the top, host RB Leipzig. At the bottom, Borussia Mönchengladbach, still without a point, are at home to 1899 Hoffenheim, seventeenth on three.

Friday

Eintracht Frankfurt v 1. FC Köln (18:30 UTC, Deutsche Bank Park). Eintracht Frankfurt are fourteenth on five points and lost 6–0 in Leipzig, which leaves them with 16 goals conceded; 1. FC Köln, tenth on seven, beat Gladbach 2–1 in the derby. Coach Adi Hütter has confirmed that Robin Koch, taken off at half-time in Leipzig, will start and captain the side, hessenschau reports. Köln are without five players: Ellyes Skhiri, hurt just before half-time in the derby, has an ankle injury and coach René Wagner does not expect him back this year, while Thijs Dallinga, Ragnar Ache, Rav van den Berg and Timo Hübers are also injured, according to hessenschau. The last meeting, here in April, finished 2–2; Frankfurt won 4–3 in Köln in November, and Köln won the two meetings at home before that, 2–0 in February 2024 and 3–0 in February 2023.

Saturday

Union Berlin v Borussia Dortmund (13:30 UTC, An der Alten Försterei). Union are sixteenth on four and have conceded 17; they beat Elversberg 1–0 last time out for their first win of the season. Dortmund are unbeaten, with four wins and a draw, but let a 2–0 lead slip at home to Bremen with goals conceded on 88 and 90 minutes. Dortmund's squad for Wednesday's Champions League trip to Bodø/Glimt left out Can and Konstantelias, both with cruciate ligament tears, and Lerma with a muscle injury, while Nico Schlotterbeck was rested, the club reported. Dortmund have won four of the last five meetings, 3–0 here in January among them; Union's win was 2–1 here in October 2024.

Hamburger SV v VfB Stuttgart (13:30 UTC, Volksparkstadion). Level on six points. Hamburger SV, twelfth, have won their last two, 2–1 against Köln and 3–2 at Hoffenheim with a goal in the 90th minute, but have conceded 15; VfB Stuttgart, eleventh, won 2–0 at Paderborn. Each won at home last season: Stuttgart 4–0 in April, Hamburg 2–1 in November. Stuttgart also won both meetings in June 2023, 3–0 at home and 3–1 here.

Werder Bremen v SC Paderborn 07 (13:30 UTC, Weser-Stadion). Werder Bremen, seventh on eight, came from 2–0 down to draw at Dortmund, N. Füllkrug scoring on 90; SC Paderborn 07, fifteenth on four, lost 2–0 at home to Stuttgart and have scored three goals, the fewest in the league. Their last competitive meeting was a 1–0 Bremen win in Paderborn in the cup in October 2024; a pre-season friendly here in August finished 2–2.

FC Schalke 04 v FSV Mainz 05 (13:30 UTC, VELTINS-Arena). FC Schalke 04, thirteenth on five, lost 2–1 at Freiburg to a goal on 85 minutes and have scored four; FSV Mainz 05, eighth on seven, lost 4–3 at home to Leverkusen. Schalke are unbeaten in the last five meetings, all from 2020 to 2023: two wins, 3–2 in Mainz in May 2023 and 1–0 here in November 2022, and three draws.

SV Elversberg v FC Augsburg (13:30 UTC, Ursapharm-Arena an der Kaiserlinde). SV Elversberg, ninth on seven, lost 1–0 at Union; FC Augsburg, sixth on eight, drew 2–2 with Bayern. The only previous meeting was a 3–1 Augsburg win here in the cup in August 2015.

Bayern München v RB Leipzig (16:30 UTC, Allianz Arena). Bayern have the most goals in the league, 16, and are unbeaten with three wins and two draws; they drew 2–2 in Augsburg after conceding in the first minute, after 8.37 seconds by Bundesliga.com's count, the fastest goal in the league's history. Leipzig, fifth on nine, beat Frankfurt 6–0 with a hat-trick from C. Nkunku. Manuel Neuer missed Tuesday's Champions League match at Viking with a foot injury, with Jonas Urbig in goal, Sportschau reports; afterwards Kompany said his side were "simply not smart", against Augsburg too. Martín Demichelis, who succeeded Ole Werner at Leipzig before the season, has asked for the same "courage and conviction away from home" as at home, Bundesliga.com reports. Bayern are unbeaten in the last four competitive meetings: 2–0 here in the cup in February, 5–1 in Leipzig in January, 6–0 here in August 2025 and 3–3 in Leipzig in May 2025.

Sunday

Bayer Leverkusen v SC Freiburg (13:30 UTC, BayArena). Freiburg are top with four wins and a draw, four goals conceded, and beat Schalke 2–1 with ten men after Y. Suzuki was sent off. Bundesliga.com reports that Suzuki, their top scorer with four, is unavailable, and calls their 13 points from five rounds a club record. Leverkusen won 4–3 at Mainz; P. Schick leads the scorers with five. Christian Kofane is out for the coming weeks with a left thigh muscle injury picked up with Cameroon, the club announced. Freiburg have not beaten Leverkusen in the last five meetings: 3–3 in Freiburg in March, 2–0 to Leverkusen here in October 2025, 2–2 in Freiburg in May 2025, and two Leverkusen wins before that.

Borussia Mönchengladbach v 1899 Hoffenheim (15:30 UTC, Borussia-Park). Gladbach have lost all five and conceded 18, the most in the league; they lost 2–1 at Köln in the first match under Alexander Blessin, who replaced Eugen Polanski before the international break, with Ko Itakura, Franck Honorat and Tim Kleindienst missing with knocks, Sportschau reported. Hoffenheim lost 3–2 at home to Hamburg after Bernardo was sent off, their fourth defeat in five. Coach Christian Ilzer said "crisis is always a big word"; Patrick Wimmer is out for now with a thigh muscle injury, and Hoffenheim play Beşiktaş in the Europa League on Thursday, Sportschau reports. The last two meetings went to the home side, 4–0 to Gladbach here in May and 5–1 to Hoffenheim in January.

The table before the round

#	Team	P	GD	Pts
1	SC Freiburg	5	+10	13
2	Borussia Dortmund	5	+7	13
3	Bayern München	5	+12	11
4	Bayer Leverkusen	5	+6	10
5	RB Leipzig	5	+10	9
6	FC Augsburg	5	+5	8
7	Werder Bremen	5	0	8
8	FSV Mainz 05	5	+3	7
…
15	SC Paderborn 07	5	−4	4
16	Union Berlin	5	−12	4
17	1899 Hoffenheim	5	−4	3
18	Borussia Mönchengladbach	5	−11	0

Dortmund play first and can sit alone on top overnight; Freiburg answer on Sunday.

Numbers to know

• P. Schick of Leverkusen has five league goals; C. Nkunku, Y. Ebnoutalib, M. Olise, Y. Suzuki, N. Füllkrug and P. Tietz have four each.
• Freiburg, Dortmund and Bayern are the only unbeaten clubs, and have conceded four goals each, the fewest.
• Gladbach have conceded 18, Union 17 and Frankfurt 16.
• Bayern have scored 16, Paderborn three and Schalke four.

The full round with kick-off times in your time zone is on the Bundesliga page.

Sources for the context: Bundesliga, Bundesliga, Bundesliga, Bayer 04 Leverkusen, Borussia Dortmund, Sportschau, Sportschau, Sportschau, hessenschau.