South Eat Melbourne Phoenix are thethird placed and Adelaide 36ers are second placed in NBL ladder. Phoenix will miss Malique Lewis and Hunter Maldonado. 36ers won against Phoenix(88-71) the last time these teams faced each other. John Cain Arena is the venue of this game.

Borussia Monchengladbach are back to their usual self. They won against FC Koln(3-1) and FC Saint Pauli(4-0) going into international games window, FC Heifdenheim were routed by Bayer Leverkusen(0-6). FC Heidenheim have conceded 23 goals and lost 7 games. Voith-Arena games are their best chance to recover. This is one of them. It also represents a fresh start after the break.

Winning 2 out of first 10 games and conceding 18 goals in 8 winless causes has taken VfL Wolfsburg closer to Bundesliga relegation zone than its European club football bracket. They are hosting Bayer Leverkusen at Volkswagen Arena. Maybe a break from game action can result in a competitive performance.

Bayern Munich is the only Bundesliga team who have less losses than Borussia Dortmund. In fact, Bayern are undefeated and BVB have lost just once in 10 Bundesliga games. It is a very difficult task to gain anything against BVB at Westfalenstadion (Signal Iduna Park). But VfB Stuttgart have fourth placeholder and a good offensively oriented team.

SC Freiburg are not so accustomed of losing that Bayern Munich can be considered a heavy favourite. SC Freiburg have lost just once in last five matches. Bayern Munich began the season with nine wins in a row. Union Berlin held them to a high scoring draw(2-2). It is the first game after international games window.

FC Augsburg have the worst scoring defense in Bundesliga. They have conceded 24 goals in 10 games. Just like Hamburger SV, they have been successful in scratching out just one out of twelve points in the last four games. Neither team is inside relegation bracket in the points table. This game is still clearly a contest of teams aspiring to stay in the Bundesliga next season.

Cairns Taipans and SkyCity New Zealand Breakers are the bottom and second-from-bottom team in NBL points ladder. Breakers recently had a surprise win against Illawa Hawks(102-60). Taipans won against Tasmania Jackjumpers(88-75) in similar fashion as both wins were earned on away courts. But Breaks have lost 6 of last 7 games and Taipans have lost 8 of last 9 games. Both teams have to do better.

SV Darmstadt 98 came out of their winless run with a thrilling win against Hannoverscher 96 in a see-saw game(3-2). They will face Greuther Furth at Stadion am Bollenfalltor. Greuther Furth had a positive finish before the international games window. They won against Presseun Munster(1-0).

When this Bundesliga II season began, Fortuna Dusseldorf didn't aspire to battle for a place in the next season of the same division. They targeted for Bundesliga. They have 11 points after 12 games. One-third of the season is gone. They have to battle to add points with another salvation rival, FC Magdeburg. FC Magdeburg are down at bottom of the points table and surely trying to ascend up the table.