The first weeks of the 2022-23 Bundesliga season have been quite interesting, with Borussia Dortmund and Bayern München exercising their dominance against the opposition as usual. Nevertheless, the teams that are trying to oust them from the first two spots have suffered some changes, and their performances this week may be key to how things unfold for all in coming weeks.
Bayern München continue to shine in the competition despite Lewandowski's exit, and Sadio Mané's arrival is already causing quite a stir in this league. Elsewhere, Borussia Dortmund has recovered from the massive blow handed to them by Sebastién Haller's illness, and the black-and-yellow club seem fit to put up a good fight against Die Roten. Teams such as Bayer Leverkusen and RB Leipzig have had a complicated start of the year, but things could start turning around for them this week.
Let's have a deeper look at some of the key aspects of the upcoming weekend of Bundesliga action.
Bundesliga - League standings after Matchday 2
| Pos. | Team | MP | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | P | Form | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bayer Leverkusen | 31 | 25 | 6 | 0 | 77 | 22 | +55 | 81 | DDWWW | |
| 2 | Bayern München | 31 | 22 | 3 | 6 | 89 | 38 | +51 | 69 | WWWLL | |
| 3 | Stuttgart | 31 | 20 | 4 | 7 | 70 | 38 | +32 | 64 | DLWWD | |
| 4 | RB Leipzig | 31 | 19 | 5 | 7 | 73 | 35 | +38 | 62 | WWWWD | |
| 5 | Borussia Dortmund | 31 | 16 | 9 | 6 | 59 | 39 | +20 | 57 | LDWLW | |
| 6 | Eintracht Frankfurt | 31 | 11 | 12 | 8 | 47 | 42 | +5 | 45 | LWLDD | |
| 7 | Freiburg | 31 | 11 | 7 | 13 | 43 | 55 | -12 | 40 | LDWLW | |
| 8 | Augsburg | 31 | 10 | 9 | 12 | 48 | 52 | -4 | 39 | LLWLD | |
| 9 | Hoffenheim | 31 | 11 | 6 | 14 | 55 | 63 | -8 | 39 | LWLWL | |
| 10 | Werder Bremen | 31 | 10 | 7 | 14 | 41 | 50 | -9 | 37 | WWLDL | |
| 11 | Heidenheim | 30 | 8 | 10 | 12 | 43 | 52 | -9 | 34 | LDWDD | |
| 12 | Wolfsburg | 31 | 9 | 7 | 15 | 37 | 51 | -14 | 34 | WWLLW | |
| 13 | Borussia M'gladbach | 31 | 7 | 11 | 13 | 53 | 60 | -7 | 32 | DLLWL | |
| 14 | Union Berlin | 31 | 8 | 6 | 17 | 26 | 50 | -24 | 30 | DLLLD | |
| 15 | Bochum | 31 | 6 | 12 | 13 | 37 | 62 | -25 | 30 | WLDLD | |
| 16 | Mainz 05 | 31 | 5 | 13 | 13 | 32 | 49 | -17 | 28 | DDWWD | |
| 17 | Köln | 31 | 4 | 11 | 16 | 24 | 54 | -30 | 23 | DLLWD | |
| 18 | Darmstadt 98 | 30 | 3 | 8 | 19 | 30 | 72 | -42 | 17 | WLLDL |
Bundesliga: Top matches to watch in Matchweek 3
Bayer Leverkusen vs Hoffenheim - Die Werkself have lost both of their previous games, which will make them even more desperate for a win here. Their rivals this week will be Hoffenheim, a club that were off to a doubtful start but bounced back last week. These teams' defensive units have combined to allow eight goals in the past two games, which hints that it could be a game with a high number of goals.
Borussia Dortmund vs Werder Bremen - The Black and Yellow side are two-for-two after the first two games, and those handling bets hint that hosting Werder Bremen should give them three more points. Nevertheless, the recently promoted team is more than eager to win their first match after returning to the top-flight a couple of months ago. Both teams have scored four goals this season, but the away side has struggled to defend their net by allowing the same number of goals, which may give us a good idea on what could go down at Signal Iduna Park.
Bochum vs Bayern München - The hosts are one of two teams in the league to have lost two games this season, and facing the league leaders may not be a good omen for the club led by Thomas Reis. As for Julian Nagelsmann's side, Die Roten will want to score more goals for their cause, especially with their defense only conceding once thanks to a baffling mistake by Manuel Neuer.
Bundesliga - Who's in and who's out of Matchweek 3?
Bayer Leverkusen - Injured: Amine Adli, Andrey Lunev, Florian Wirtz, Karim Bellarabi. Doubtful: Robert Andrich.
Bayern München - Injured: Leon Goretzka, Serge Gnabry. Doubtful: Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting.
Borussia Dortmund - Injured: Karim Adeyemi, Niklas Süle. Illness: Sebastién Haller.
Eintracht Frankfurt - Injured: Aurelio Buta, Jerome Onguéné, Almamy Touré.
RB Leipzig - Injured: Yussuf Poulsen, Lukas Klostermann, Peter Gulacsi. Suspended: Dominik Szoboszlai.
