1- Will it be an Allianz Arena party for Harry Kane?
Bayern Munich’s big summer signing Harry Kane has certainly impressed since his 100 million arrival from Tottenham and he bagged a goal and an assist on his Bundesliga debut last Friday at the Weser Stadion. This weekend sees him make his first league appearance at his new Allianz Arena home with the Bavarian fans desperate to see him kick things off with another goal (at least).
The pressure is already being put on the England captain, but two former Bayern legends have said this week that they have every confidence he will handle the situation. Both Robert Lewandowski and Roy Makaay have spoken out about Kane’s ability succeed in the Bundesliga (and they should know).
2- Can Dortmund afford to be as sluggish this weekend?
BVB started their season with a 1-0 win over Köln at the Signal Iduna Park, but their performance level was criticised afterwards and the Schwarzgelben were a little fortunate in the end. A single goal from Donyell Malen settled it, but the visitors were denied a deserved point by some goalkeeping heroics from Gregor Kobel.
Despite claims pre-match that they were ready to go this season, the players admitted afterwards that they are still a way off prime condition going into the new season. A trip to Ruhr rivals Bochum is their task this season and as their game at the tail end of last season showed, their hosts will make life very difficult. Edin Terzic’s side will need to raise their game this weekend if they are not to get a bloody nose at the Vonovia Ruhrstadion.
3- Can the newcomers make positive home starts?
Both promoted sides made losing starts last week, and both will be hyper keen to make amends when they have their first home fixture of the new season this weekend.
2.Bundesliga champions Heidenheim opened with a 2-0 loss at VfL Wolfsburg, but will be more confident about getting their first points on the board when they host Hoffenheim at the Voith Arena. Darmstadt also lost their opener away at Eintracht Frankfurt, but face a potentially even tougher second matchday as they welcome Union Berlin to the Böllenfalltor on Saturday.
4- Will Leverkusen build on their Leipzig win?
The opening weekend pitted two of the pre-season favourites to become title aspirants, and it was Bayer Leverkusen who came out on top in their clash with RB Leipzig. Xabi Alonso must now take his side to the Borussia Park to face Rhine rivals Borussia Mönchengladbach in the mini-Rheinderby.
The match sees Jonas Hofmann return to his former club sooner than he might have liked and it will be interesting to see the kind of reception he gets from the Fohlen fans. The match also sees Gerardo Seoane facing the club that sacked him at the start of last season.
5- Was last weekend beginner’s luck for Stuttgart?
Stuttgart’s bad memories of last season were a thing of the past last weekend as they enjoyed a fantastic start to the season with a 5-0 home win over VfL Bochum. Despite losing a raft of key players this summer, there was no sign of despondency at the Mercedes Benz Arena as both Serhou Guirassy and Silas helped themselves to two goals.
The real test of their mettle will however come on Friday as they get the weekend’s action underway against RB Leipzig at the Red Bull Arena. The Roten Bullen will want to make amends for their opening day loss at Leverkusen and return to the form that saw them defeat Bayern in the Supercup two weeks ago.
