Borrusia Monchengladbach is currently enjoying their best start to a Bundesliga season in eternity.
Marco Rose’s side sits comfortably at the top of the standings with 25 points, four ahead of second-placed RB Leipzig.
Their 3-1 win at home to Werder Bremen indicated that they do not intend to slow down any time soon.
On Saturday afternoon, they take on Union Berlin in a fixture that they are expected to pick three other points from.
The fact that they have been brilliant since the season started is down to the fact that they are performing at both ends of the pitch.
Gladbach’s defece has conceded the least goals in the division (11) while they have also scored an impressive 24 goals at the other end.
Marcus Thuram has won most of the plaudits for his exploits upfront and with five goals already registered to his name, the French forward will be yarning for more along with partner Alessan Plea who has managed four.
However, Gladbach has been hit with injury issues going into the game as they could be without up to seven first-team players including the suspended Rami Bensabaini who was sent off in the win against Bremen.
For Union Berlin, they have started life in the top flight fairly ok as they sit 11th on the 18-team log.
They have also been in reasonably good form in the past couple of weeks as they have won all of their last three games in competitions including both of their last two in the League.
A 1-0 win over Hertha in the Berlin Derby was followed up with a 3-2 victory at Mainz in the last game and they will be motivated to inflict a third season loss on Gladbach.
This will be the first meeting between the two sides as Union only attained Bundesliga status this year.
The Bundesliga match-day 12 will kick-off on Friday with Borussia Dortmund at home to Paderborn.
Dortmund has had to endure a reasonably tough start to the 2019/20 campaign and start the weekend in 6th, six points off the pace.
They went into the international break on the back of a heavy 4-0 loss against Bayern Munich, their second defeat of the season.
Having won just five games since the season started, Lucien Favre will feel obligated to register another victory on Friday and anything less than three points will not be welcome by the Dortmund faithful.
For Paderborn, they are hands-down the worst side in the division.
After 11 games, they sit bottom of the pile with only four points. Their tally so far has been accumulated from a draw away to Wolfsburg and a 2-0 victory at home to Dusseldorf.
Paderborn is steering in the eyes of relegation and a trip to the Signa Induna Park is not one they would welcome at this point of the season.
Last season, Paderborn lost heavily to Dortmund in their two games. They lost 7-1 in the reverse fixture before going down 6-1 in the return leg.
For defending champions Bayern, they will also be in action on Saturday when they take on Dusseldorf away from home.
Yet to find a permanent replacement, the Bavarians will still be under the guidance of Hans Dieter-Flick who masterminded the 4-0 victory over Dortmund before the international break.
Bayern will be favourites for the game despite missing defenders Nicklas Sula, Jerome Boateng and Lucas Hernandez.
However, they need to be cautious of a Dusseldorf side that has lost only one of their last five competitive fixtures and held them to a 3-3 draw in one of their two meetings last season.
The other fixtures to watch out for will be Leverkusen at home to Freiburg, Frankfurt hosting Wolfsburg and Koln’s visit to Leipzig.
All the Bundesliga fxtures this weekend
Friday, 22-11-2019
-Dortmund vs Paderborn @10:30pm
Saturday, 23-11-2019
-Leverkusen vs Freiburg @5:30pm
-Frankfurt vs Wolfsburg @5:30pm
-Bremen vs Schalke 04 @5:30pm
-Dusseldorf vs Bayern @5:30pm
-Union Berlin vs Gladbach @5:30pm
-Leipzig vs Koln @8:30pm
Sunday, 24-11-2019
-Augsburg vs Hertha Berlin @5:30pm
-Hoffenheim vs Mainz @8pm
