It's the final round of Frauen-Bundesliga matches before the long winter break, and all twelve teams will be looking to finish with a flourish and put themselves in the best positions possible for when the new year comes around.
The tie of this round of matches involves erratic 1. FFC Turbine Potsdam hosting worthy winter champions Bayern Munich in what could prove a critical game for the title race, as VfL Wolfsburg and 1. FFC Frankfurt hope to be able to close the nine point gap before the winter break. There’s also a crucial encounter at the foot of the table as the relegation battle becomes a four-way dogfight.
SGS Essen - 1. FFC Frankfurt
The weekend’s action kicks off on Friday evening as SGS Essen host Frankfurt. Like many fellow Bundesliga clubs, Essen’s season has been inconsistent to date, and has recently tailed off after a promising start. Their only wins in their last seven matches have come against the two promoted sides, 1. FC Köln and Werder Bremen, and they will be keen to arrest that slide down the table. Charline Hartmann’s six goals and Sara Doorsoun’s national call-up have been the bright sparks of what has been a disappointing season so far for a team that will have had high hopes of pushing on from their fifth place finish last season.
It won’t be an easy task for Essen against a Frankfurt side that have won three matches in a row since their shock 4-0 defeat to SC Freiburg, and who have looked re-invigorated under the leadership of Aussie Matt Ross. Frankfurt will probably be a little disappointed with their season so far, but a win on Friday will put them clear in second place ahead of Wolfsburg, even if only for a day. Dzsenifer Marozsán and Mandy Islacker will be hoping to add to their own impressive goal tallies.
Under normal circumstances this could be considered a potential stumbling block for Frankfurt, and it would have looked almost a certainty to be so just a few weeks ago, but on the current form of both teams Frankfurt now have to see this as a banker.
Kick-off: Friday 18th, 18:30 CET
VfL Wolfsburg - FF USV Jena
Saturday’s only game sees Wolfsburg host FF USV Jena. When the sides met back in August on Matchday one, Wolfsburg beat Jena 8-0 in what appeared to be a real statement of intent that they wanted their title back. Since then they’ve only scored 21 goals in 10 games, and conceded more in one match against Turbine Potsdam than they did in the entirety of the 2014-15 season. Their home form has been surprisingly poor, enduring a draw and two defeats. Summer signing Lara Dickenmann is their top scorer, which is perhaps an indication of a misfiring strikeforce. The late arrival of Ramona Bachmann and repeated injuries for Alexandra Popp have not helped the team settle.
Jena are an enigma. They went four matchdays in a row without a defeat, including winning in Potsdam and becoming the only team so far to take points off Bayern. Since then they provided Köln with their only win of the season so far and lost comfortably to SC Sand twice in a week. Yet they also managed to score four in a losing cause against Frankfurt. That being said, they have 10 points from their first 11 games, a rate that will see them equal last season’s effort and stay up.
The champions of 2013 and 2014 will not want risk giving up any more ground to Bayern in the title race, and it’s hard to see how Jena will stop them. This is not the sort of match Jena need to win to avoid relegation, but a loss means a winter spent looking nervously over their shoulders.
Kick-off: Saturday 19th, 15:00 CET
1. FFC Turbine Potsdam - Bayern Munich
For all the talk about their lack of style, Bayern unquestionably deserve their winter champions crown. Only Wolfsburg and Freiburg have scored more than they have, and they have conceded just four goals to date. The only black spot in their record book so far was a shock draw away at Jena on Matchday five. That result aside, Bayern have been defending their crown imperiously. Sara Däbritz is joint top scorer in the league and their summer signing hasn’t taken long to settle in. The mostly settled squad has efficiently gone about its business, aided by inspired new signings such as Däbritz and Nicole Rolser.
It’s fair to say Turbine Potsdam’s season hasn’t gone entirely to plan. In spite of the major injury crisis that at times has left them struggling to put a team together at all, not many will have expected them to pick up just four points from their first six games, scoring just three in that run. Four wins in five games since then has seen them rocket up the table, propelled by the superb form of Svenja Huth. Potsdam have become good at spoiling parties, and after beating Wolfsburg 5-2, they’ll want to remind another of the big teams just what they’re made of.
Potsdam’s 2-0 win against Wolfsburg last season ended up a crucial factor in the title race. A Potsdam win here may not make a difference, but it would provide a glimmer of an opening for the chasing pack. This is probably the hardest match of the weekend to predict, as it's difficult to know which Potsdam will show up. Simply on account of their relentlessness so far, and Turbine's ongoing injury woes, it seems likely Bayern will sneak a win by a goal or two.
Kick-off: Sunday 20th, 14:00 CET
1. FC Köln - Werder Bremen
In many respects, this is the most important match of the weekend. Bremen began the campaign with a fantastic 6-2 win against Köln, and respectable performances against Wolfsburg, Bayern, and SC Freiburg will have given hope, before gaining a good point against Frankfurt. One point from five matches since then has seen them slide back down into the relegation zone, and a loss here will make survival begin to look like a very difficult task indeed. Just four goals in ten games since that opening day success highlights their woes, even if defensively they have been slightly tighter than their opponents here.
Köln have been at the foot of the table since Matchday two. Much like Bremen, they have some tricky fixtures coming up when the league resumes in the new year, and will see this match as vital to their survival hopes. Anna Gerhardt has contributed four goals, and Lise Munk three, and yet they have still only managed ten goals this season, which is no more than their opponents have registered. Their fragile defence has been exposed often, and Bremen will be eager to remind them of their opening day thrashing.
In spite of Köln’s 2-0 win at Jena on Matchday 10, both of these sides have begun to look cut off at the bottom, but the winner could well be spending the winter break free from the drop zone, and that will provide a large incentive. This will be a keenly contested match-up. A draw is no good for either team, so it will be an open and attacking game, but it could well also be a fairly scrappy encounter.
Kick-off: Sunday 20th, 14:00 CET
TSG 1899 Hoffenheim - SC Freiburg
After a remarkably inconsistent start which saw them give Turbine Potsdam their only win in the first six matchdays, yet also steal an improbable draw from 2-0 down at Wolfsburg, Freiburg are suddenly beginning to look like the team they were expected to be at the start of the season. Even the loss of the talismanic Lina Magull to injury doesn’t appear to have hampered them, having scored six goals in 110 minutes since she went off against Bayer Leverkusen. They are the only team in the league with two players to have scored five goals so far (Magull and Hasret Kayikci), and their young and attacking squad make them the most likely team to break into a top four that has been unchanged since the 2012-13 season.
TSG 1899 Hoffenheim are slightly improved from last season points-wise, but they are down in 8th place, testament to improved performances from Freiburg and Sand. Kristin Demann’s form earned her a call-up to the German national team, but Silvana Chojnowski’s injury has hampered their attacking prowess, with Martina Moser and Nicole Billa accounting for over half of their goals so far.
First time out these two sides drew 0-0. This time around Freiburg have to be considered favourites due to their form going into the match. Hoffenheim have just won one of their last six, and are likely to find it tough to turn that record around against a buoyant Freiburg.
Kick-off: Sunday 20th, 14:00 CET
Bayer Leverkusen - SC Sand
After a poor start Bayer Leverkusen picked up consecutive wins in Matchdays five and six, only for star player Turid Knaak to break her leg in a friendly against PEC Zwolle. Since then they've picked up just one point from five matches, shipping 18 goals in the process. A loss in this match would condemn Bayer to spending the winter break in the relegation zone if there is a winner in the Köln/Bremen encounter. They are a side playing well in patches, but with a dangerously soft defensive core, in spite of having the experience of Annike Krahn at its heart.
Sand's form has been the surprise of the Hinrunde. They were third after Matchday seven, and are already a mere two points behind their entire points total from last season. Their two big wins came away at Turbine Potsdam and Wolfsburg, but they have largely stayed consistent against the lower half of the table as well, aside from home draw against Köln. Jovana Damnjanović and Nina Burger are top scorers with just three goals apiece, which highlights what an impressive team effort it has been from them this season. They have scored just 13, which is the worst record of any team above the bottom four, but their defence has been superb. Only Bayern have conceded fewer than the nine goals Sand have let in.
Sand won the reverse fixture 4-0 on the first day of the season, and that result really set the tone of the season for both teams. Leverkusen have conceded a league-high 31 goals in their 11 games, and with Sand's confidence sky-high they have to be backed for the win.
Kick-off: Sunday 20th, 14:00 CET