The new Bundesliga season. A glimpse into the future. Who will be the winners?

SC Freiburg host 1. FC Union Berlin at the Europa-Park Stadion on Sunday, 8 November 2026 (16:30 UTC) in a Bundesliga clash that pits the league's early-season surprise package against a side battling at the wrong end of the table. Freiburg sit 3rd in the 2026/27 standings after an outstanding start under Julian Schuster, whose team has combined domestic consistency with a European campaign, while Union Berlin languish in 16th place with just seven points and arrive in the Breisgau with their survival hopes already under scrutiny. The hosts come into this one on the back of a hard-fought 2:1 win away at Augsburg, a result that kept their momentum rolling after a DFB-Pokal success, whereas Union's away form has been alarming — they were crushed 5:0 at Köln and could only manage a 1:1 draw in the home reverse fixture. Despite Union historically dominating this fixture, everything about the current season points one way: Freiburg's 2.40 points per game, three goals scored per match and 80% win rate make them firm favourites at European odds of 1.45 for the home win, with the draw at 4.60 and an away victory as high as 7.00.

Freiburg's 2026/27 squad has been built around a settled spine that Schuster has refined since taking over from Christian Streich: Noah Atubolu guards the goal behind a defence marshalled by Matthias Ginter and Philipp Lienhart, with captain Christian Günter providing width and experience from left-back. The midfield engine of Nicolas Höfler and Maximilian Eggestein feeds an attack where Vincenzo Grifo, Ritsu Doan and Lucas Höler have been among the goals, and Freiburg average over three goals per game at home this term. There are fitness concerns, however, with Philipp Treu and Florent Muslija both sidelined through injury, and Schuster must also manage a congested schedule that recently saw his side fall to heavy defeats against Bayern Munich — 1:3 at home — and Monaco in Europe, reminders that this team is not unbeatable when pressed by elite opposition.

Hoffenheim host Schalke 04 at the SNP Arena in Sinsheim on Sunday, 8 November 2026, in a Bundesliga Matchday 9 clash that pits two sides heading in very different directions this season. Christian Ilzer's Hoffenheim, fresh from a famous 3-0 Europa League win over Lyon and an emphatic 3-0 league victory over Bayer Leverkusen, stumbled last time out in a 2:0 defeat at Werder Bremen, while Schalke arrive in the Kraichgau in miserable form after a home 0:2 loss to RB Leipzig followed a goalless DFB-Pokal exit at Dynamo Dresden. The Royal Blues have scored just a handful of league goals all season and sit in the bottom half of the table, whereas Hoffenheim's aggressive, high-energy football under Ilzer has kept them in the conversation for European qualification once again.

The Hoffenheim squad for the 2026/27 season blends proven Bundesliga quality with exciting young additions: captain Oliver Baumann remains the undisputed number one in goal, shielded by a settled back line of Vladimir Coufal, Ozan Kabak, Albian Hajdari and summer signing Mats Rots. The midfield pairing of Leon Avdullahu and Wouter Burger, recently rewarded with a new long-term contract, supplies the platform for the evergreen Andrej Kramaric — the club's record scorer — together with Fisnik Asllani, whose collapsed move to RB Leipzig proved a blessing in disguise, Patrick Wimmer, Tim Lemperle, Adam Hlozek, Adam Daghim and teenage Belgium international Nathan De Cat. That attacking depth was on full display in the 3:0 dismantling of Leverkusen, and against a Schalke defence that has kept things tight but offered almost nothing going forward, Hoffenheim's rotations should find plenty of space between the lines.