The international break is over and it’s time to welcome back club football and the 2.Bundesliga. At the top of the table going into this weekend are Bochum and Ingolstadt, while at the bottom of the league we have Erzgebirge Aue who are yet to earn a point. St. Pauli will be playing their first game with Thomas Meggle in charge and Tomislav Stipic will manage Aue for the first time after leaving his position as Ingolstadt Under23 coach.

Friday: Kaiserslautern - FSV Frankfurt.

Both these sides go into the game on the back of draws, Kaiserslautern were denied three points late on as Aalen made it 2-2 from the penalty spot. FSV Frankfurt were held to a goalless draw against RB Leipzig and failed to find the back of the net despite having a man advantage for the second half. The home side have had more success in past meetings, winning five times and FSV only managing one victory over Kaiserslautern. Kaiserslautern are only missing Steven Zellner through injury and FSV Frankfurt are still missing Chhunly Pagenburg and Joan Oumari, the latter is set to return later this month.

Ingolstadt - Aalen.

In nine meetings between the clubs Ingolstadt have just edge it with four victories, Aalen have won three meetings and they haven’t been separated on two occasions. Ingolstadt have made an impressive start to the season and they currently share the top spot, last time out they won 3-0 against Sandhausen, while Aalen held Kaiserslautern to a draw. Ingolstadt head into the game without Leon Jessen, Ralph Gunesch, Almog Cohen and Christian Eigler. Aalen travel to Bavaria without Robert Lechleiter who won’t be returning to action till November.

Bochum - Karlsruher.

In form Bochum have been a pleasant surprise so far this season and they’ll have a tough test on Friday when they host Karsruher. Both sides are yet to lose this season and both have eight points, in forty-five meetings between the sides Bochum just edge it with sixteen wins, while Karlsruher have defeated Bochum in thirteen meetings, the meetings between the two are often close games and they’ve drawn on sixteen occasions. Bochum head into the game on the back of a 2-1 victory over Eintracht Braunschweig and Karlsruher could only draw against 2.Bundesliga new-boys Heidenheim. Bochum have a full squad to pick from for this game while Karlsruher have three missing, Jonas Meffert should be back for next weekend, Jan Mauersberger is out till the end of the month and Sascha Traut will be missing till March.

Saturday: RB Leipzig - Eintracht Braunschweig.

This is the first meeting between the two sides, RB Leipzig have started very well after their promotion, they sit in third place and they last game saw them hold on with ten men to earn a goalless draw against FSV Frankfurt. Eintracht Braunschweig are in fourteenth place after suffering back-to-back defeats, before the international break they suffered a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Bochum. Their aren’t any new injuries for RB Leipzig, as they are still without Terrence Boyd, Fabio Coltorti, Fabian Franke, Henrik Ernst and Niklas Hoheneder. Braunschweig are missing Jan Hochscheidt, Torsten Oehrl, Orhan Ademi and Jan Washausen.

Darmstadt vs Erzgebirge Aue.

Darmstadt will play Aue for the first time and it will be a tricky fixture for them, despite Aue losing all four games so far we may see Darmstadt come unstuck if the new manager effect comes into play. Aue have suffered their worst start to a season and with that they’ve replaced Falko Götz with Tomislav Stipic. Darmstadt drew 1-1 with 1860 Munich before the break and they are in fourth place with eight points, Aue as previously stated have lost all four games, last time out they lost to Fortuna Düsseldorf 3-0. The only missing player for Darmstadt is Aytac Sulu and for Aue their missing Oliver Schröder.

Sunday: St. Pauli - 1860 Munich.

Both teams haven’t enjoyed great starts to the season and St. Pauli have already taken action by sacking Roland Vrabec and replacing him with Thomas Meggle. St. Pauli will be hoping a new head coach can turn things away, their last game saw them well beaten by Greuther Fürth who won 3-0. 1860 have shown some signs of improvement recently and they’ve drawn their last two games, the latest against Darmstadt, they’ll be hoping they can pick up their first win of the season. In their twenty-two meetings St. Pauli have won ten times, 1860 nine and they’ve drawn on three occasions. St. Pauli have no injury concerns for this game, while 1860 will be without Stephan Hain and Korbinian Burger.

Sandhausen - Greuther Fürth.

These two sides have only met three times and on each occasion Greuther Fürth have come out on top. Greuther Fürth breezed past St. Pauli before the international break and they’ll be looking to do the same against a struggling Sandhausen side who lost 3-0 to Ingolstadt last time out. Ranisav Jovanovic is the only absent player for Sandhausen, Fürth on the other hand are missing four players, their still missing  Ilir Azemi, Johannes Wurtz, Florian Mohr and Mark Flekken.

Heidenheim - Union Berlin.

Heidenheim and Union Berlin have only met the once and that was in this season’s DFB Pokal, Heidenheim came out on top with a 2-1 victory. Heidenheim managed to earn a hard fought draw with Karlsruher before the international fixtures, Union Berlin on the other hand suffered a heavy loss at the hands of Nürnberg. Heidenheim will miss Marcel Titsch-Rivero, Manuel Janzer and Adriano Grimaldi for this fixture. Union Berlin are yet to win this season and they’ll be missing Martin Dausch and Christopher Trimmel thanks to their suspensions, they’ll also miss Michael Parensen and Oliver Oschkenat due to injury.

Monday: Nürnberg - Fortuna Düsseldorf.

The game of the weekend sees eighth take on ninth, both performed impressively last time out, Nürnberg won 4-0 against Union Berlin and Düsseldorf defeated Aue 3-0. In twenty-eight meetings Nürnberg have won fourteen times and Düsseldorf have only managed six victories against Nürnberg, these two clubs have drawn eight times and it won’t be a surprise if after Monday that turns into nine draws. Nürnberg are still missing Even Hovland and Danny Blum, while Düsseldorf will be without six players, Oliver Fink, Ihlas Bebou, Heinrich Schmidtgal, Christopher Avevor, Andreas Lambertz and Lars Unnerstall.

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