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

The Bundesliga 2026/2027 season continues with an intriguing Matchday 3 fixture as 1. FC Union Berlin welcome FC Schalke 04 to the Stadion An der Alten Försterei in Berlin on Friday, September 11, 2026. Both teams will be eager to secure valuable points early in the campaign, with Union Berlin looking to bounce back from a difficult start and Schalke aiming to build momentum after earning their first point of the season. The match kicks off at 20:30 local time and promises to be a competitive encounter between two sides with contrasting ambitions for the season ahead.

Union Berlin enter this clash under the guidance of manager Mauro Lustrinelli with a squad that features established Bundesliga performers such as goalkeeper Frederik Rønnow, defenders Josip Juranović, Zeno Van Den Bosch, and Felix Uduokhai, midfielders Rani Khedira, Michel Aebischer, and Livan Burcu, and attacking threats Emmanuel Latte Lath and Marin Ljubičic. The home side's recent form has been mixed, suffering a heavy 4-0 defeat away to Bayer Leverkusen on September 5, but showing resilience in their opening match with a thrilling 3-3 draw against Eintracht Frankfurt on August 29. Latte Lath has already found the net this season and will be crucial to Union's attacking hopes.

FC Augsburg host Bayer Leverkusen on Saturday, 12 September 2026 at the WWK Arena in what promises to be one of the most intriguing Bundesliga fixtures of the young 2026/27 season. Augsburg arrive in outstanding form, having dismantled Eintracht Frankfurt 1:4 away from home before crushing Schalke 04 3:0 at home, with those results lifting Manuel Baum's side to the top of the early standings. Leverkusen, now under new head coach Carles Martinez, answered emphatically last weekend with a 4:0 rout of Union Berlin, though their only blemish this campaign came in a surprise 3:2 defeat at Elversberg. Both teams are averaging over two goals per game, setting the stage for a high-tempo showdown in Bavaria.

Augsburg's 2026/27 squad has been reshaped smartly on a modest budget, with Michael Gregoritsch permanently signed from Bröndby to lead the line alongside Rodrigo Ribeiro, whose loan from Sporting Lisbon was made permanent. New arrivals Calvin Brackelmann (Paderborn), Hennes Behrens (Heidenheim), Sima Suso (Fortuna Düsseldorf) and loanee Arijon Ibrahimovic from Bayern Munich give Baum genuine depth, while Mert Komur, Anton Kade and Alexis Claude-Maurice provide creativity behind the striker. The predicted setup remains a 3-4-2-1 with Finn Dahmen in goal and a back three of Matsima, Schlotterbeck and Banks, though Augsburg will be without the injured Kade, Breithaupt, Brackelmann and Sima Suso for this clash.

Borussia Dortmund host SC Paderborn 07 at Signal Iduna Park on Saturday, 12 September 2026 at 15:30 local time in a Bundesliga 2026/27 Matchday 3 meeting, arriving after 2-0 versus Hamburger SV and 2-3 at Hoffenheim, so Niko Kovač’s side has momentum but also a short turnaround after Tuesday’s Villarreal assignment.

Paderborn’s early top-flight references are tighter and blunter: 0-1 against Freiburg and 0-0 at Mainz, a profile that points to a compact block, cautious transitions and set-piece hunting. European odds of roughly 1.22 for Dortmund, 6.50 for the draw and 12.00 for Paderborn capture the expected pattern: long home pressure, rare away counters, and the need for the underdog to be perfect in defensive duels.

FC Köln welcome Werder Bremen to the RheinEnergieStadion on Saturday, 12 September 2026, with kick-off scheduled for 18:30 CEST, as two of the Bundesliga's most entertaining sides meet early in the 2026/2027 campaign. The Billy Goats opened their season with a narrow home win but were brought back down to earth last weekend, falling 4:1 away to VfB Stuttgart, while Werder Bremen arrive in Cologne after a heavy defeat of their own, losing 4:1 at Freiburg despite having beaten RB Leipzig 3:1 on matchday two.

FC Köln's 2026/2027 squad, led from the dugout by head coach Rene Wagner, is built around goalkeeper Marvin Schwäbe, a defensive line featuring Andreas Castro-Montes, Jayden Simpson-Pusey, Luka Lochoshvili and Georg Mensah, and a dangerous attacking trio of Jan Thielmann, Ragnar Ache and Linton Maina, though the hosts remain without Saïd El Mala, Thijs Dallinga, Luca Waldschmidt, Sebastian Sebulonsen and Timo Hübers through injury. Werder Bremen counter with a young squad marshalled between the posts by Arnold Schlager, with Niklas Stark, Moussa N'Diaye, Olivier Wojcik and Marcel Schmetgens at the back and Cedric Itten leading the line, but their own injury list is even longer: Eren Dinkçi, Senne Lynen, Justin Njinmah, Jens Stage, Felix Agu, Keke Topp and Mitchell Weiser are all unavailable for the trip to the Rhine.

SC Freiburg host B. Monchengladbach at Europa-Park Stadion on Saturday 12 September 2026, with kick-off set for 15:30 local time, in a Bundesliga matchday 3 meeting that arrives with very different momentum: Freiburg are second early in the 2026/27 table after a 4-1 home win over Werder Bremen and a 0-1 victory at Paderborn, while Gladbach sit 17th after a 3-0 loss at RB Leipzig and a wild 3-4 home defeat to Elversberg.

For 2026/27, Julian Schuster’s Freiburg squad is built around Mio Backhaus in goal, Christian Günter, Matthias Ginter, Philipp Lienhart and Philipp Treu or Jordy Makengo in defence, Maximilian Eggestein and Yannik Engelhardt in midfield, and Yuito Suzuki, Jan-Niklas Beste, Vincenzo Grifo, Derry Scherhant plus Igor Matanovic as the main attacking threats; Gladbach, coached by Eugen Polanski, can reply with Moritz Nicolas, Fabio Chiarodia, Kevin Diks, Ko Itakura, Joe Scally or Daiki Hashioka, Kevin Stoger, Florian Neuhaus, Philipp Sander, Robin Hack and Franck Honorat behind Tim Kleindienst, Isac Lidberg, Shuto Machino and Hugo Bolin, though Freiburg are missing Patrick Osterhage, Rihito Yamamoto and Florent Muslija while Gladbach are without Enzo Leopold, Hashioka, Zento Uno, Jens Castrop and Yukhym Konoplya, making their old 4-0 win over Hoffenheim feel increasingly distant.

Hoffenheim host VfB Stuttgart in Sinsheim on Saturday, 12 September 2026 in a Bundesliga Round 3 fixture that already carries pressure for the home side: Christian Ilzer’s team are 16th after losing 2-3 to Borussia Dortmund and then falling 3-2 at 1. FC Köln, while Sebastian Hoeneß’s Stuttgart arrive ninth after a 5-1 defeat at Bayern Munich was answered with a 4-1 home win over Köln.

For the 2026/2027 season, Hoffenheim’s spine remains Oliver Baumann in goal, Ozan Kabak and Albian Hajdari in central defence, Leon Avdullahu and Wouter Burger in midfield, with Andrej Kramaric, Fisnik Asllani and Tim Lemperle leading the attack, while summer signings Nathan De Cat, Patrick Wimmer, Adam Daghim, Mats Rots, Cajetan Lenz, Alessandro Vogt and Sean Dulic give Ilzer a deeper squad; Stuttgart’s key names are new captain Deniz Undav, Ermedin Demirović, Dženan Pejčinović, Bilal El Khannouss, Grischa Prömel, Angelo Stiller, Chris Führich and Jamie Leweling, though the visitors continue to manage injuries to Tiago Tomás, Nikolas Nartey, Luca Jaquez, Dan-Axel Zagadou, Lorenz Assignon, Dennis Seimen and Justin Diehl, with Hoffenheim also monitoring Alexander Prass and Asllani.

Mainz host Eintracht Frankfurt at MEWA Arena on September 12, 2026 in a Bundesliga 2026/27 meeting set for 13:30 UTC, with the home side arriving in stronger early rhythm after the 0-5 win at Hamburger SV and the 0-0 draw with Paderborn, while Frankfurt’s last two league outings were the wild 1-4 home defeat by Augsburg and the 3-3 draw at Union Berlin where Younes Ebnoutalib scored three.

The European odds market makes Mainz the home favourite in decimal format at about 2.10, with the draw close to 3.70 and Frankfurt priced as the outsider, reflecting Mainz’s clean sheet against Paderborn and explosive five-goal display in Hamburg against Frankfurt’s obvious attacking threat but defensive instability. Our prediction is Mainz 3 : 1: Urs Fischer’s 3-5-2 should control the half-spaces through Kaishu Sano, Nadiem Amiri and Jae-sung Lee, while Frankfurt can still hurt Mainz through Jonathan Burkardt’s return to his old club, Ritsu Dōan, Mario Götze, Farès Chaïbi and Can Uzun.

SV Elversberg welcome record champions Bayern Munich to the URSAPHARM-Arena an der Kaiserlinde on Sunday, 13 September 2026 (17:30 CEST) for a fascinating Matchday 3 clash in the 2026/27 Bundesliga season. The newly promoted Saarland side have made a sensational start to life in the top flight and currently sit level on six points with the very best, while Bayern — after lifting the Franz Beckenbauer Supercup with a 2-1 win over Borussia Dortmund — are still chasing their early-season rhythm. The European odds for this fixture reflect the gulf in pedigree but not necessarily current form: an away win for Bayern is priced at around 1.20, the draw at 9.00, and a home victory for Elversberg as high as 12.00, even though the hosts are one of only two teams with a perfect record so far.

Elversberg's fairytale start continued last weekend when they stormed Borussia-Park and edged a seven-goal thriller, with David Mokwa and company producing ten shots on target to silence Gladbach and claim a famous 3-4 away victory. That result followed their opening-day statement at the Kaiserlinde, where they overturned Bayer Leverkusen in a historic 3-2 win despite holding barely a third of possession. Manager Horst Steffen's 2026/27 squad is built around the irrepressible Mokwa (two league goals already), midfielder Maurice Krattenmacher — signed from Bayern Munich's own academy for €2 million in June — creator Fisnik Asllani, and veteran campaigner Lukas Pinckert, though the latter is suspended for this match after his red card at Gladbach. The absences of defender Lukas Seifert (syndesmosis ligament tear) and forward Timo Zimmerschied (back problems) further stretch the underdogs' resources against the league's most potent attack.

RB Leipzig host Hamburger SV at the Red Bull Arena on Sunday, 13 September 2026, in one of the most intriguing fixtures of the early 2026/27 Bundesliga season. Both sides arrive at this Matchday 3 clash wounded after humbling defeats last weekend: Leipzig fell 3-1 away to Werder Bremen at the Weserstadion despite dominating possession, while Hamburg were torn apart 5-0 at home by Mainz 05, a result that leaves Merlin Polzin's men bottom of the table with zero points and zero goals scored. The head-to-head history is heavily one-sided — RB Leipzig are unbeaten in their last six meetings with HSV, winning five of them, including a 4-0 rout in the most recent encounter — and the European odds reflect that dominance, with a home win priced around 1.40, the draw near 5.25, and an away triumph as high as 7.50.

Ole Werner's RB Leipzig will be desperate to bounce back in front of their own fans, and the 2026/27 squad certainly has the quality to do so. Maarten Vandevoordt starts in goal behind a back line of Ridle Baku, Willi Orbán, Maxime Estève and David Raum, with Neil El Aynaoui, Nicolas Seiwald and Ezechiel Banzuzi screening a dangerous attack featuring Johan Bakayoko, Christopher Nkunku and Antonio Nusa. The injury room is crowded, however: Castello Lukeba, Christoph Baumgartner, Rocco Reitz, Assan Ouédraogo, Rômulo, Brajan Gruda and Veit Gebel are all unavailable, and the defensive lapses that cost them in the 1-3 defeat in Bremen will need to be addressed quickly against a Hamburg side that, despite its poor form, carries real attacking threat on the counter.