[kompressaur]

Howday do day folks. I have to admit to never betting on German Football and the only reason for that is that it starts an hour before scottish leagues and ive never even got my Scottish list looked at never mind to look at other leagues. We're gonna have to do a bet of the weekend thread. Here's some a preview from Eurosport

Schalke, looking for their first league title since 1958, have managed just a point from their last two matches, losing 1-0 to Bayer Leverkusen last week after a 2-2 draw at VfL Wolfsburg.

Schalke's woes were compounded further when their Brazilian playmaker Lincoln was handed a five-match suspension for a red card received for punching Leverkusen's Germany midfielder Bernd Schneider.

Although Schalke will be without Lincoln, they can count on Serbia defender Mladen Krstajic, who will be available thanks to a special shield to protect a broken rib suffered against Leverkusen.

Hamburg have three successive victories under new coach Huub Stevens, including a 3-1 win against Eintracht Frankfurt a week ago, and have climbed out of the relegation zone. HSV are the only remaining founding Bundesliga club never relegated.

It will be a special homecoming match for Stevens, who won the 1997 UEFA Cup at Schalke and led the Gelsenkirchen club to second place in 2001 during his record-breaking 195-match career coaching Schalke.

That 2001 season still haunts Schalke. They squandered the title with a late slump and were eclipsed by Bayern Munich, who won it with an injury-time goal in the final match of the season.

Unwanted memories of that collapse are coming back now. Schalke had a six-match winning streak and six-point lead over Werder Bremen two weeks ago. Schalke, with 49 points from 23 matches, still lead Werder, now third, by six points but are only four ahead of second-placed VfB Stuttgart.

Hamburg, led by in-form captain Rafael van der Vaart, have eight goals in their last three matches - wins over Borussia Dortmund, Bremen and Frankfurt. Van der Vaart scored one and made a second in HSV's 3-1 win over Frankfurt.

HSV were only narrowly beaten by Schalke 2-1 in their first meeting this season.

Stuttgart travel to Bayer Leverkusen, Werder host VfL Bochum and champions Bayern Munich, fourth with 40 points, play at Hertha Berlin on Saturday.

Stuttgart may be without their Germany striker Mario Gomez, the Bundesliga's top scorer this season. He suffered a thigh injury in midweek.

Leverkusen will field youngster Rene Adler rather than long-time keeper Joerg Butt after the 22-year-old filled in impressively for the suspended Butt last week.

Bremen welcome back Germany international Clemens Fritz, who has been out with muscle problems, and striker Hugo Almeida (head). Both returned to training on Thursday as did long-injured defender Patrick Owomoyela.

Bayern Munich may be without Owen Hargreaves as the England midfielder is suffering from ankle problems. Defender Lucio (abdomen) and striker Claudio Pizarro (knee) are also ailing but are expected to play.

Hertha are likely to be without captain Arne Friedrich, who suffered a knee injury in their 2-0 German Cup loss at VfB Stuttgart on Wednesday.