Home of football statistics and historyThe race to be crowned Bundesliga champions continues to rumble on, with Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich both winning their respective games over the weekend.
Bayern maintained their recent revival with a 1-0 victory over Hertha Berlin on Saturday, while Dortmund ran out 3-2 winners against Bayer Leverkusen the following day.
The results left Dortmund three points ahead of the reigning champions with 11 games to play. The majority of major bookmakers make Munich favourites to win the title on their betting apps, although there could be many twists and turns as the season heads into the final stretch.
Dortmund have lost just once this season, but three draws in their last four matches has allowed Munich to narrow the gap at the top of the table.
However, they looked close to their best form against Leverkusen on Sunday, with goals by Dan-Axel Zagadou, Jordan Sancho and Mario Gotze sealing a deserved victory. Javi Martinez scored Bayern’s only goal against Hertha, heading home James Rodriguez’s corner.
Both sides have a winnable run of fixtures scheduled over the next few weeks, meaning the three point gap could still be in place when they go head-to-head at the Allianz Arena at the start of April.
Dortmund will face Augsburg (A), Stuttgart (H), Hertha (A) and Wolfsburg (H) before the big clash, with only the latter team currently sitting in the top half of the table.
Games against Borussia Monchengladbach (A), Wolfsburg (H), Mainz (H) and Freiburg (A) represent a tougher test for Bayern, but they will undoubtedly fancy their chances of staying in touch with Dortmund ahead of their upcoming meeting.
Dortmund will take heart from their performance in the reverse fixture, where they battled back from 2-1 down to record a 3-2 victory.
Robert Lewandowski broke the deadlock against his former club, before Dortmund levelled from the penalty spot through Marco Reus.
Lewandowski headed Bayern back into the lead, but two goals in six second-half minutes by Reus and Paco Alcacer won it for Dortmund.
That result moved Dortmund seven points clear of Bayern after 11 games, but their title rivals have managed to chip away at the lead since then.
Having won the title for the past six seasons Bayern know what it takes to get the job done, but their hopes of retaining the title could easily be determined over the next few games.
The game at third-placed Monchengladbach is a potential banana skin, while the fixture against Wolfsburg pitches them against a side with the second best away record in the Bundesliga.
Dortmund should be able to at least maintain their three point lead over Bayern over the next few weeks and they still look a value bet to end Bayern’s dominance of the league.
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