PREVIEW: Schalke seek revenge at Moenchengladbach as form teams clash

By Barry Whelan Feb 9, 2012, 9:55 GMT

Berlin - On-form teams Borussia Moenchengladbach and Schalke clash while champions Borussia Dortmund defend a two-point lead at the top when they greet sixth-placed Bayer Leverkusen in the Bundesliga's two top games Saturday.

Moenchengladbach's fine run continued with a 2-0 extra-time victory over Hertha Berlin Wednesday to reach the last four of the German Cup.

The last six games have seen five wins and a draw for Lucien Favre's fourth-placed team who now have the chance to overtake Schalke, lying one point ahead of them in third place.

Schalke themselves are enjoying a splendid spell with only one defeat in the last nine games - a 3-1 loss to Moenchengladbach in the cup on December 21.

Schalke will have revenge on their minds, but their Dutch striker Klaas Jan Huntelaar said the two games will be entirely different, while admitting the Royal Blues will have to play better this time round against a strong counter-attacking side.

'It is of course a very important game against a direct rival, but even after this match there will other important games,' he told the club's website.

'Gladbach will wait for us to make mistakes. We will have to be clever and patient. When we get the chances we have to take them. We beat Gladbach at home (1-0) and we want to repeat that.'

Dortmund, meanwhile, are aiming to continue a series of four league wins which have propelled them to the top when they greet a Leverkusen side still seeking a consistent run of form.

Dortmund also booked their place in the cup semi-finals with a 4-0 victory over fourth-division Holstein Kiel Tuesday on a frozen pitch.

Although the freeze was expected to continue, Dortmund's undersoil heating and the largest crowd of the weekend - expected to top 80,000 - will help raise the temperatures in the Signal Iduna Park ground.

Second-placed Bayern Munich were also boosted by a midweek cup win - a comfortable 2-0 at VfB Stuttgart - to reach the last four and improve the mood after an indifferent spell following the winter break.

However, Jupp Heynckes will probably be without midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger, who turned an ankle early in the game, for the visit of third-last Kaiserslautern.

Heynckes reverted to the tactics and a similar formation to that used during their best spell before the winter break, meaning Dutch winger Arjen Robben on the bench and Toni Kroos operating in a more forward midfield role.

The mood in Munich had been dampened by last Sunday's 1-1 draw in Hamburg and only four points from three games, but has picked up after everything seemed to click back into place against Stuttgart.

'We had a superb balance between defence and attack. Our attacking play was variable and very fast-paced. I'm very satisfied,' Heynckes said.

Two teams in the doldrums - Stuttgart and Hertha Berlin - meet Saturday in search of a badly-needed victory to stop the slide towards the lower reaches of the table.

Stuttgart have lost five and drawn two of their last seven league games and went out of the cup against Bayern with a timid home display.

Hertha have dropped to fourth last with three straight defeats under new coach Michael Skibbe, followed by Wednesday's cup exit to Moenchengladbach, although the extra-time loss followed a controversial sending off of defender Roman Hubnik.

Elsewhere Saturday, Mainz entertain Hanover while fifth-placed Werder Bremen host eighth-placed Hoffenheim whose coach Holger Stanislawski is under pressure after cup exit Wednesday to second-division Greuther Fuerth.

The Bundesliga programme begins Friday with bottom side Freiburg at midtable Wolfsburg, while on Sunday, Cologne host SV Hamburg and second-last Augsburg meet fellow strugglers Nuremberg,