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Three Bundesliga storylines to keep an eye on this weekend
Deepa Krishnaswamy | September 12, 2026 8:28 AM CST

It is matchday three in the Bundesliga, and the table is still at that wonderfully unpredictable early-season stage, with Augsburg, Freiburg, Borussia Dortmund and Elversberg currently making up the top four.

As usually happens this early in the campaign, the standings are likely to look very different again by Sunday evening.

Here are three key storylines to follow in the Bundesliga this weekend.

On Saturday afternoon, Borussia Dortmund welcome newly promoted Paderborn. BVB can head into the fixture with confidence because they have never lost a competitive match against Paderborn. Although the two sides have met only eight times, Dortmund posted two 6-1 wins and one 7-1 victory in three of those encounters.

While the signs strongly favour BVB, this weekend could also bring the return of central defender Nico Schlotterbeck, who suffered an injury while playing for Germany at last summer’s World Cup.

In fact, both Schlotterbeck and fellow defender Ramy Bensebaini returned to team training this week and will be available for selection on Saturday.

Dortmund have won both of their opening league matches this season, most recently defeating TSG Hoffenheim 3-2. Paderborn have taken one point so far after a 0-0 draw with Mainz on the opening day.

There is a genuine mismatch on Sunday as Bayern Munich face the smallest club ever to play in the Bundesliga, SV Elversberg.

Elversberg have already emerged as the surprise package of the season by winning their first two matches against Bayer Leverkusen and Borussia Monchengladbach.

When SVE host Bayern on matchday three, the Rekordmeister will find themselves in unusual surroundings. Elversberg are currently redeveloping one of their main stands, which means the changing rooms are temporary structures at present, the kind that would not look out of place in Germany’s Kreisliga, or District League.

Elversberg will hope that setting can disrupt Bayern as they try to extend their remarkable start to the campaign.

After recently speaking to Elversberg technical director Josef Welzmüller, it is clear the Bavarian is determined that the club will continue with the energetic, pressing style of football that has served them so well so far.

One line remains timeless: never skip the Friday night game.

In this round of fixtures, Union Berlin host Schalke 04 in the German capital. Union have collected one point from their first two matches, exactly the same as S04, who held Bayern to a 0-0 draw last weekend.

Union will once again look to their strong home form to make sure they do not get dragged into a relegation battle, something that has troubled them in recent years. For Schalke, the aim is to build on their outstanding display against Bayern last time out and this time push for all three points.

Former Union player Robin Gosens returns to Köpenick with Schalke for the first time, and it would be entirely fitting if he ended up playing a decisive role in how the match finishes.

Expect plenty of action and goals on Friday evening.


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