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

VfB Stuttgart host Borussia Mönchengladbach on Friday, 23 October 2026 at the MHP Arena in a Bundesliga matchday 7 clash that pits two sides in very different moods. Stuttgart's most recent outing ended in a frustrating 1-0 defeat away at Hamburger SV, but that result is the exception rather than the rule for Sebastian Hoeneß's men, who responded to a heavy early-season defeat to Bayern Munich with an impressive 3-0 Champions League win at Slovan Bratislava and a controlled 2-0 league victory at Paderborn. Mönchengladbach, by contrast, arrive in crisis: Eugen Polanski's side have lost all of their opening Bundesliga fixtures, conceding heavily in defeats to Freiburg, RB Leipzig and Mainz, with their latest setback a 1-2 home loss to Hoffenheim. Historically, the fixture favors the hosts too — Stuttgart have won four of the last five meetings, including a 3-0 away triumph in January 2026, and have taken the previous two H2H encounters.

Team news for the 2026/27 season squads gives Stuttgart a clear edge in availability. The Swabians are missing Maximilian Mittelstädt, Ameen Al Dakhil, Dan-Axel Zagadou, Nikolas Nartey, Justin Diehl and Tiago Tomás through injury, but can still call on a strong spine of Dennis Seimen in goal, Josha Vagnoman, Finn Jeltsch and Julian Chabot in defence, Angelo Stiller and summer signing Grischa Prömel in midfield, and the attacking quartet of Chris Führich, Deniz Undav, Ermedin Demirović and Dženan Pejčinović. Gladbach's injury list is far more damaging: captain Tim Kleindienst, Franck Honorat, Ko Itakura, Jens Castrop, Enzo Leopold, Nicolas-Gerrit Kühn, Jan Leszczyński and Fritz Fleck are all ruled out, leaving Moritz Nicolas, Kevin Diks, Joe Scally, Kevin Stöger, Florian Neuhaus and new signings Isac Lidberg and Hugo Bolin to carry a heavily depleted squad.

Augsburg host Union Berlin at the WWK Arena on 24 October 2026 in a Bundesliga Round 7 clash that pits two teams heading in very different directions this season. Augsburg, sitting near the top of the table after a strong start under their current setup, are unbeaten at home and have scored in every home match so far, while Union Berlin arrive in Bavaria still searching for consistency after a difficult opening month. The home side suffered a heartbreaking seven-goal thriller last time out, falling 4-3 at Elversberg despite creating more than enough chances to win, and they will be eager to bounce straight back in front of their own fans.

Augsburg's 2026/27 squad blends experience with attacking firepower: Finn Dahmen anchors the goal, with Chrislain Matsima, Jeffrey Gouweleeuw and Mads Pedersen forming the defensive core, while Marius Wolf, Fabian Rieder, Arnel Ibrahimovic and Michael Gregoritsch — who has already chipped in with goals this campaign — provide the creative and finishing threat. That depth was on full display when Augsburg held champions Bayern Munich to a thrilling 2-2 draw just a week before the Elversberg defeat, a result that underlined just how dangerous this team can be at the WWK Arena. With their high-tempo, attack-minded approach, Augsburg have seen over 2.5 goals in every league game this season, making them one of the most entertaining sides in the division.

Borussia Dortmund host Eintracht Frankfurt at Signal Iduna Park on Saturday, 24 October 2026 (18:30 local time) in one of the headline fixtures of the 2026/27 Bundesliga season. Dortmund arrive in strong shape, sitting second in the table after a campaign built on a rock-solid defence and the goals of Serhou Guirassy, who has struck four times already this season, with Fábio Silva matching that tally. Frankfurt, currently eleventh, travel west after a mixed October in which they beat Köln 1:0 but were then humbled by RB Leipzig 6:0 in a worrying defensive collapse.

Recent form slightly favours the Black and Yellows. Niko Kovač's side ground out a 0:0 draw away at Union Berlin last weekend and remain unbeaten in the league despite a midweek setback in Europe, while their Signal Iduna Park form has been dominant — Dortmund's last home meeting with Frankfurt, back in May 2026, ended in a thrilling 3-2 victory, the third time in four home H2Hs that at least three goals have been scored. Frankfurt's away record tells a different story, though their 3-1 win at Mainz earlier this month showed the attacking threat of Ritsu Dōan and Can Uzun on the break.

FC Köln host FC Schalke 04 at the RheinEnergieStadion on Saturday, October 24, 2026, in a Matchday 7 Bundesliga clash between two of German football's most traditional clubs. Both sides arrive with something to prove after disappointing results last weekend: Köln fell 1:0 away to Eintracht Frankfurt on Friday night, while Schalke were stunned 0:1 at home by Mainz 05 the following day. The bookmakers see Köln as clear favourites for this fixture, with European odds priced at around 1.95 for a home win, 3.50 for the draw, and 3.80 for a Schalke victory — a reflection of the Billy Goats' stronger attacking output and home advantage in front of a sold-out Cologne crowd.

Schalke's defensive resilience will be severely tested in Cologne. Miron Muslić's men have built their campaign on organisation, holding Bayern Munich to a draw earlier in the season and grinding out results, but their away form has been patchy — they slipped to a 2:1 defeat at SC Freiburg in early October and could only manage a 0:0 stalemate against SV Elversberg in September. With six goals scored and four conceded across their last five league outings, the Royal Blues are solid but lack cutting edge — a problem against a Köln side that has scored eight in the same span despite its own defensive frailties.

Mainz 05 host Werder Bremen at the MEWA Arena on Saturday, 24 October 2026, in a 2026/27 Bundesliga meeting between two early-season surprise packages: Urs Fischer’s Mainz are pushing near the European places after a 0:1 win at Schalke, while Daniel Thioune’s Werder arrive with renewed belief after dramatic late points in 2:2 against Paderborn and a 2:2 comeback at Dortmund.

The latest team news points to Mainz trying to protect a home favourite tag despite defensive volatility, following the 3:4 Leverkusen thriller and the earlier 4–3 away win at Gladbach; the 2026/27 squad is built around Silvan Widmer’s captaincy, Nadiem Amiri’s creativity, Lee Jae-sung’s energy and Phillip Tietz’s penalty-area finishing, with Anthony Caci, Philipp Mwene and Stefan Posch giving Fischer width and set-piece threat.

SC Paderborn 07 host Hamburger SV at the Home Deluxe Arena on Saturday, 24 October 2026, in a Bundesliga matchday 7 clash between two of the league's newest top-flight residents. Paderborn are back in the Bundesliga for the first time since 2019/20 after winning the promotion play-off against Wolfsburg, while Hamburg finally ended their long exile from the top division. Both sides are locked in the lower half of the early-season table — Paderborn sitting 11th and HSV 14th — and with only a handful of points separating them, this meeting at the 15,000-capacity Home Deluxe Arena could prove significant in the race to avoid an immediate return to the 2. Bundesliga.

Paderborn's form has been mixed under head coach Ralf Kettemann, who is working with a reshaped 2026/27 squad. The headline departure was top scorer Filip Bilbija, who left on a free transfer to Derby County, but the club responded with a record €3 million signing of Gabriel Vidović from Dinamo Zagreb, with Oliver Batista Meier, Albert Millgramm and Rayan Philippe also arriving to bolster the attack alongside veterans Sven Michel and Steffen Tigges. In defence, Kettemann can call on Felix Götze, Mattes Hansen, Tjark Scheller and Jano ter Horst, though an early-season injury crisis in the backline has complicated his selection. Their most recent outings tell the story of a side still finding its feet: a battling 2-2 draw away to Werder Bremen last weekend followed a disappointing 0-2 home defeat to VfB Stuttgart, leaving Paderborn with just one win from their last five league matches.

RB Leipzig welcome newly promoted SV Elversberg to the Red Bull Arena on October 24, 2026, in a Bundesliga clash that pits a rebuilding Leipzig side against one of the surprise packages of the season. Leipzig sit seventh with nine points from six matches, while Elversberg, playing their first ever top-flight campaign, are a spot above them in sixth on ten points. The European odds reflect Leipzig's home strength and superior depth: a home win is priced at 1.38, the draw at 5.25, and an away win at 8.50, making the hosts clear favourites despite their inconsistency so far this term.

Leipzig's form has been a rollercoaster this autumn. They were thrashed 1-6 by Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena on October 17, but just a week earlier they produced a stunning 6-0 demolition of Eintracht Frankfurt at home, with Christopher Nkunku scoring a hat-trick on his return to Leipzig on loan from Milan. The 2026/27 squad has been reshaped significantly: Maxime Estève arrived from Burnley, Rocco Reitz joined from Borussia Mönchengladbach, Marc Guiu signed from Chelsea, and Ørjan Nyland returned in goal, while Antonio Nusa, Brajan Gruda and Tidiam Gomis provide creativity around Nkunku. David Raum captains the side, and Maarten Vandevoordt has been the first-choice goalkeeper.

SC Freiburg host Bayern Munich at Europa-Park Stadion on Sunday 25 October 2026 in a Bundesliga top-three clash, with Bayern leading the early 2026/27 table on 14 points from six matches and Freiburg close behind on 13. European odds reflect the visitors’ strength at around 5.80 for the home win, 4.40 for the draw and 1.55 for Bayern, leaving Freiburg needing a near-perfect defensive night to upset the record champions.

Freiburg’s 2026/27 squad is built around Noah Atubolu in goal, Matthias Ginter and Philipp Lienhart in central defence, Christian Günter and Jan-Niklas Beste on the flanks, Max Eggestein and Johan Manzambi in midfield, and Yuito Suzuki, Junior Adamu/Igor Matanovic-type movement and Michael Gregoritsch/Vincenzo Grifo-style creativity around the box; Florent Muslija is the latest concern. Their recent rhythm shows the gap to the elite: a 2:1 defeat at Leverkusen, followed by a resilient 3:2 home win over Jablonec that should keep confidence high at Europa-Park Stadion.

TSG Hoffenheim host Bayer Leverkusen at the SNP Arena in Sinsheim on Sunday, 25 October 2026 (kick-off 15:30 CET) in one of the most attractive fixtures of Bundesliga Matchday 7. Hoffenheim, sitting 14th after six rounds, are still searching for consistency in the 2026/27 campaign, while Leverkusen arrive in fourth place on 13 points under new head coach Carles Martínez Novell and full of confidence after four consecutive competitive wins. The historical record favors the Werkself, who have won 17 of the 32 previous top-flight meetings between the clubs, with nine Hoffenheim victories and six draws; notably, the TSG won the most recent clash 1-0 at home in January 2026, and fixtures between these two sides traditionally average more than three goals per game.

Hoffenheim finally halted a worrying slide on Matchday 6, producing a morale-boosting 1-2 away victory at Borussia Mönchengladbach after four straight defeats, including a narrow 2-3 home loss to Besiktas in the UEFA Europa League. Christian Ilzer's rebuilt 2026/27 squad remains built around captain and goalkeeper Oliver Baumann, a back line featuring Vladimír Coufal, Ozan Kabak and Kōki Machida, and a midfield pivot of Leon Avdullahu and Wouter Burger, while 35-year-old record scorer Andrej Kramarić continues to pull the strings behind Adam Hložek, Fisnik Asllani and Tim Lemperle. The bad news for the hosts is a lengthening injury list that includes Patrick Wimmer, Albian Hajdari and teenage talent Nathan De Cat, and defensive leaks remain a serious concern: Hoffenheim are conceding 2.3 goals per game and have yet to keep a clean sheet this season.