Bundesliga preview: Bayern aim to find form in a hurry

Borussia Dortmund will hope to extend their Bundesliga lead this weekend, with out-of-form Bayern Munich liable to slip up against Schalke.

Defending champions Dortmund sit three points clear of second-placed Borussia Moenchengladbach in the standings, and are four points ahead of title rivals Bayern.

Gladbach are in action first this week, and can draw level on points with Dortmund – at least temporarily – if they defeat mid-table Hamburg at home in Friday’s curtain raiser.

Jurgen Klopp’s titleholders must wait until Sunday for their chance to impress, when they host seventh-placed Hannover at the Westfalenstadion.

Something has to give in a clash between two teams that have proven hard to beat.

Hannover have lost only once in their past 10 league matches, while Dortmund are unbeaten in the Bundesliga since September 18.

It was Mirko Slomka’s Hannover side who inflicted that defeat, winning 2-1 in the reverse fixture, and Dortmund are likely to be out for revenge as they seek to record their seventh successive league victory.

Would-be title challengers Bayern have lost ground in the championship battle due to their inconsistent form early in 2012.

Since the German season resumed in January, Bayern have won two, drawn two and lost in the Bundesliga.

They were held to a frustrating 0-0 draw at Freiburg last week, and followed it up on Wednesday with a surprise 1-0 loss away to Basel in the Champions League round-of-16 first leg.

Jupp Heynckes knows his team need to rediscover their winning touch, but they may find doing so difficult at home to fierce rivals Schalke, who thrashed Wolfsburg 4-0 in their last league outing.

In other matches, the teams chasing Europa League qualification, fifth-placed Werder Bremen and sixth-placed Bayern Leverkusen, are at home to Nuremburg and away to Cologne respectively.

Veteran coach Otto Rehhagel will take charge of Hertha Berlin for the first time when they visit fellow promoted side Augsburg, who are second-from-last on the table.

Third-from-bottom Kaiserslautern will hope to pick up valuable points in their battle to avoid the drop and are away to 13th-placed Mainz.

And bottom side Freiburg will look to build on last week’s morale-boasting draw with Bayern when they make the trip to face Stuttgart.