Borussias face off as top two tussle

The battle of the Borussias takes pride of place this weekend as Dortmund and Monchengladbach seek superiority at the top of the standings. Gladbach moved to the top of the Bundesliga last Friday night with a 3-0 win over Cologne and they were joined there by Dortmund on Saturday after they beat Schalke 2-0. Defending champions Dortmund currently have the edge due to goal difference while both sides are a point clear of Bayern Munich, who had been leading the way all season. Saturday's clash at the Borussia Park Stadion could therefore see one of the two Borussias steal a march on the other, or both drop back below Bayern in the event of a stalemate. "I don't think anybody before the season started would have expected this game to be a top-of-the-table clash after 15 matches," said Gladbach's goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen on his club's website. "But you could also say that we have earned this game." While Gladbach's rise from the narrow relegation play-off victory over Bochum last May to the top of the table was unexpected, the fact the defending champions are challenging for glory once again was more predictable. Bayern were also expected to be challenging at the top, but two defeats in a row have opened the title race up and even fourth-placed Werder Bremen, who travel to Munich on Saturday, may fancy their chances of topping the table at the midway stage of the season. Fifth-placed Schalke could be the big beneficiaries this weekend as the top four fight it out among themselves. They host Augsburg on Sunday and are just four points behind the leaders. Bayer Leverkusen could join that pack with victory over Hoffenheim in the weekend's opening fixture tomorrow night with Stuttgart and Hannover not wanting to lose too much ground as they host Cologne and travel to Freiburg respectively. Elsewhere, Mainz visit Wolfsburg's VW-Arena looking to build on their win over Bayern last weekend, Kaiserslautern meet Hertha Berlin and Hamburg face Nurnberg.