Bundesliga Matchday 31: Dortmund target vital win against Wolfsburg

Borussia Dortmund have slipped back into second place but their title dreams are still alive as they host Wolfsburg on Matchday 31.

Bayern Munich, meanwhile, will be trying to stay at the top of the pile when they travel to mid-table Werder Bremen.

Elsewhere, it is fourth against fifth as Freiburg face RB Leipzig at home, while third-placed Union Berlin take on Augsburg.

And Schalke will continue their relegation battle when they travel to Mainz this weekend.

Game of the weekend: Borussia Dortmund vs Wolfsburg (Sunday, 4.30pm)

Dortmund's slip-up against Bochum in their last outing produced yet another twist in the title race, with BVB going from leaders to chasers once again.

They will hope to lean on their strong record against next opponents Wolfsburg — since the Wolves were promoted in 1997, Dortmund have secured more Bundesliga victories against them (31) than any other opponent.

Edin Terzic's outfit have scored in each of their last 16 league outings, racking up 44 goals in that time. 

However, the last time they were kept out was in the reverse fixture against Wolfsburg, a 2-0 defeat which saw the team from Lower Saxony record one of their joint-league high 12 clean sheets.

Niko Kovac's men have been awarded seven penalties this term — more than any other side. Dortmund, though, are the only Bundesliga club yet to give away a spot-kick this season.

Werder Bremen vs Bayern Munich (Saturday, 5.30pm)

Bayern will hope to take a step closer to retaining their title when they visit Werder Bremen.

This is the most-played fixture in Bundesliga history — Saturday's clash will be the 112th edition, with Bayern claiming 59 wins to Werder's 26. However, the scales have tipped heavily in the Bavarian giants' favour in recent years.

Since 2008, Bayern are unbeaten in 30 games across all competitions against Bremen (26 wins, four draws). No side in German professional football has ever enjoyed a longer run without defeat against a single opponent.

Thomas Muller has played Die Werderaner 23 times in the Bundesliga without losing a single meeting (20 wins, three draws) and being involved in 26 goals (10 goals, 16 assists) — no player in the history of the division has ever faced an opponent more often without suffering defeat.

Freiburg vs RB Leipzig (Saturday, 2.30pm)

Freiburg must avoid losing to Leipzig if they wish to keep hold of their top-four spot for at least another week.

However, the Breisgau Brazilians are winless in their last eight meetings with Saturday's visitors in all competitions.

The hosts will hope to make the most of their strong record from set-pieces, scoring a league-high 22 times from such situations this term. They could certainly add to that tally against Leipzig, who have conceded the highest proportion of their goals from dead-ball situations (46% — 17 of 37).

Freiburg's Vincenzo Grifo and Leipzig's Christopher Nkunku rank joint-second in the Bundesliga goalscoring charts with 13 goals apiece — the pair will be keen to boost their chances of finishing top of the rankings, by outscoring the other in this fixture.

Augsburg vs Union Berlin (Saturday, 2.30pm)

Union Berlin will be keen to take advantage of Freiburg's battle with Leipzig, by beating Augsburg to cement their position in the top four.

The capital club boast the best defensive record in the division, conceding just 31 times — they have never let in fewer at this stage of a Bundesliga season.

Neither of these sides look to dominate the ball. Along with bottom club Hertha Berlin, they have averaged a joint-league low 42% possession this term.

Augsburg (318) and Union (326) have also taken the fewest and second-fewest shots in the division this term.

Mainz vs Schalke (Friday, 7.30pm)

Schalke's resurgence in the second half of the season — picking up twice as many points (18) as they did in the first half of the campaign (nine) — has given them a fighting chance of survival, ahead of their trip to Mainz.

They will be hoping for a repeat of the reverse fixture in November, which saw them win 1-0 courtesy of a Simon Terodde goal.

Both teams come to life in the last 15 minutes of matches — only Mainz (eight) have scored more goals in the final quarter of an hour than Schalke (seven) since the halfway mark of the campaign.

However, Schalke have the worst chance conversion rate in the season's second half (10%), while Mainz boast the second-highest (22%).

The weekend's other games

Bayer Leverkusen vs FC Cologne (Friday, 7.30pm) 

Borussia Monchengladbach vs Bochum (Saturday, 2.30pm) 

Hoffenheim vs Eintracht Frankfurt (Saturday, 2.30pm) 

Hertha Berlin vs Stuttgart (Saturday, 2.30pm)

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