Bundesliga preview: Top three look for wins

Bundesliga champions Borussia Dortmund take on Nuremberg on Friday as the tight top three again face winnable outings.

Juergen Klopp’s Dortmund side are second to title rivals Bayern Munich on goal difference, while Schalke are third level on points with the top two.

None of the top three dropped points last time out, and Dortmund meet a Nuremberg side they have not lost to in their last six league meetings.

Freezing temperatures are expected across the country, but the German Football Federation believes all games will go ahead as clubs have under-soil heating.

Poland striker Robert Lewandowski (14 goals) leads the goal-scoring for Klopp’s men, who retained Paraguay international Lucas Barrios during the January transfer window despite speculation he would move elsewhere.

League leaders Bayern Munich travel to the Imtech Arena to meet Hamburg having decided not to strengthen their squad in January.

Star attacker Franck Ribery was unhappy they failed to add to their squad, although Bundesliga top-scorer Mario Gomez has ensured they have had few troubles this campaign.

Schalke enter their clash at home to Mainz coming off a 4-1 thrashing of Cologne on Saturday.

Huub Stevens’ men, guided by the strike power of Dutchman Klaas-Jan Huntelaar and Spaniard Raul, have shown themselves to be a genuine threat for a first German league title since 1958.

At the other end of the table, Cologne and Kaiserslautern battle at Fritz-Walter-Stadion on Sunday.

Currently third-last, in the relegation play-off spot, Kaiserslautern will move out of the bottom three with a win over a Cologne side winless in their last two outings.

Elsewhere, surprise packets Borussia Moenchengladbach, who are fourth, visit Wolfsburg on Saturday on the back of seven consecutive wins in all competitions.

Werder Bremen have a great chance to end their three-game winless league run when they meet bottom-placed Freiburg on Sunday.

Bayer Leverkusen welcome Stuttgart to the BayArena on Saturday, while Hannover visit Hertha Berlin on the same day.

Meanwhile, Augsburg will be eyeing a spot outside the relegation zone when they visit Hoffenheim.