Marseille (A) Bordeaux (H) Strasbourg (A) Brest (H)
Lorient have sneaked into the top half relatively unnoticed and other than their trip to the Velodrome, these games provide Christophe Pélissier’s charges an opportunity to solidify themselves in mid table.
Clermont (A) Brest (H) PSG (A) Angers (H)
With Jonathan David firing and their strong midfield looking close to their best again, Lille’s recent resurgence can continue in this run even if they don’t get anything in Paris.
Montpellier (A) Metz (H) Lyon (A) Troyes (H)
Franck Haise’s men have play some scintillating football on their ascent to second in the table, and after beating Marseille and Lille already this season, they will have little fear taking on these opponents including the trip to a defensively vulnerable Lyon.
Lille (H) Nantes (A) Marseille (H) St Etienne (A)
It’s around this time of the season when a newly promoted team’s honeymoon comes to an end and after going winless in their last five, Clermont will have to pull off something special from a difficult run of games to avoid going into the bottom three.
Reims (H) Lille (A) Monaco (H) Lorient (A)
The home game against Reims has to be their first league win of the season, because the games that follow could very easily mean Michel Der Zakarian’s tenure hanging by a thread.
Nantes (H) Lorient (A) Reims (H) PSG (H)
The kind of run that should enable Vladimir Petkovic to further stamp authority on his side because the last thing Bordeaux want is to be in the relegation zone when they welcome PSG.
PSG (A) St Etienme (A) Nice (H) Lille (A)
Gérald Baticle’s start to life in the Angers dugout has already far exceeded expectations and considering the levels of over performance it wouldn’t surprise me if they caused an upset or two against the big guns to keep flying high.
Hoffenheim vs Koln — Draw
Union vs Wolfsburg — Home
Frankfurt vs Hertha — Home
Dortmund vs Mainz — Draw
Freiburg vs Leipzig — Draw
Furth vs Bochum — Home
Gladbach vs Stuttgart — Home
Leverkusen vs Bayern — Draw
Augsburg vs Arminia — Away
Season — 31/63
Union (A) Freiburg (H) Leverkusen (A) Augsburg (H)
Mark van Bommel’s impressive start in charge has somewhat stuttered recently and Wolfsburg will hope that they are not cut adrift from the top four after three very difficult games to begin this run of fixtures.
Gladbach (A) Union (H) Augsburg (A) Arminia (H)
Pellegrino Matarazzo’s men have caught fire like they did at the beginning of last season, but the back-to-back fixtures against Augsburg and Arminia might just kickstart their campaign.
Leverkusen (A) Hoffenheim (H) Union (A) Freiburg (H)
Even for a club of Bayern’s might this presents a tricky set of fixtures and Julian Nagelsmann will be keen to stamp out any complacency from the champions or points could be dropped easily in any of these four games.
Stuttgart (H) Hertha (A) Bochum (H) Mainz (A)
Adi Hutter’s ideas finally seemed to be coming through to his new players as they beat Dortmund and Wolfsburg in successive games before the break, and this run of fixtures should enable the Foals to establish further upward momentum.
Dortmund (A) Augsburg (H) Arminia (A) Gladbach (H)
The two Borussias present difficult games, but the matches in between should enable Bo Svensson’s impressive side to remain in the top half.
Bayern (H) Koln (A) Wolfsburg (H) Hertha (A)
Just like last season Leverkusen welcome Bayern with a sense of opportunity but the hope is that regardless of the result, Gerardo Seoane’s men don’t fall away completely like Peter Bosz’s men did after losing to the champions last season.
Freiburg (A) Furth (H) Frankfurt (A) Dortmund (H)
Not the fixtures one wants if they want to kickstart their season, but Jesse Marsch’s men will have to start delivering to avoid being cut off from the top four and for that to happen a first away win of the season is a priority before they welcome Dortmund for what could be a crucial game.
Hoffenheim (A) Leverkusen (H) Dortmund (A) Union (H)
In recent seasons the Billy Goats may have looked at these games with trepidation, but thanks to a terrific start they can actually look forward to taking on some of the big guns, especially when they welcome hated rivals Leverkusen and former prodigy Florian Wirtz.
Koln (H) Bayern (A) Hertha (H) Bochum (A)
They have been Bayern’s béte noire for a while and the other fixtures could be tricky, but I still expect Hoffenheim to get four points and remain in their comfort zone.
Bochum (H) Leipzig (A) Freiburg (A) Frankfurt (H)
The cellar dwellers will find little respite in this run, but the home against fellow strugglers Bochum at least presents an opportunity to win their first game of the league campaign.
Leipzig (H) Wolfsburg (A) Furth (H) Bayern (A)
The only undefeated side in the league are going to be severely tested in this run, but I wouldn’t bet against Christian Streich’s men causing an upset or two thanks to their tactical intelligence and organization.
Hertha (H) Bochum (A) Leipzig (H) Furth (A)
Other than the visit of Leipzig this presents a good chance for Oli Glasner’s Frankfurt side to build on their impressive win at Bayern before the break and establish themselves in the European places.
Mainz (H) Arminia (A) Koln (H) Leipzig (A)
It’s imperative that BVB get nine points before the test at Leipzig, but these are exactly the kind of games that Dortmund have lost points in recent seasons and Marco Rose will have to correct that if his men are to establish themselves as serious challengers for the title.
Furth (A) Frankfurt (H) Gladbach (A) Hoffenheim (H)
A must-win trip to Furth in a relegation six-pointer to begin with, but even that might just be a pyrrhic victory considering the difficulty of opponents that follow.
Augsburg (A) Dortmund (H) Mainz (H) Stuttgart (A)
The trip to Augsburg already feels so decisive and the result of that game will set the narrative around the tougher fixtures that follow.
Wolfsburg (H) Stuttgart (A) Bayern (H) Koln (A)
An exciting set of fixtures for a club that relishes playing bigger sides while giving them a run for their money.
Frankfurt (A) Gladbach (H) Hoffenheim (A) Leverkusen (H)
A run of games that sees the capital side up against sides in positions that they aspire towards but are nowhere close to being, hence the need to somehow get at least one win to avoid being dragged into a relegation battle.