Bayer Leverkusen vs RB Leipzig (tonight, 21:30) — the Werkself at home against the Red Bulls

Pre-match outlook: Bayer Leverkusen (the Werkself) are at home at the BayArena, in the only heavyweight clash of this Bundesliga round. The Werkself have been solid at home this season — they’ve kept clean sheets in both of their 2 home games. Leipzig may look high in the standings, but they’re genuinely poor away from home: they’ve already lost in a row to Como and Werder Bremen, and have been unable to play to their level on the road.

Head-to-head psychology: The Werkself have had a clear upper hand over Leipzig in recent years — in their last 7 league meetings, they have 5 wins, 1 draw and 1 loss. They did the double last season, scoring 7 goals in total. With that head-to-head record, it’ll be hard for Leipzig to turn things around away from home.

Tactics: The Werkself use a 4-2-3-1 with 2 holding midfielders to control the middle of the pitch, and attack through the pace and movement of their attacking midfielder; Leipzig’s 4-3-3 relies on Nusa, Romulo and Gomis to create space. Neither side is short of attacking options, and when both teams push up, there’s plenty of room at the back — the perfect conditions for a goal fest.

Prediction: Home win

Schalke 04 vs Elversberg

Pre-match outlook: This is a head-to-head between 2 newly promoted sides, but neither is a pushover. After a crushing 0-3 defeat to Augsburg at the start, Schalke quickly regrouped: they held Bayern to a 0-0 draw at home, then won 3-1 away at Union Berlin, putting their defensive system on a solid footing. Elversberg have been even more impressive — they beat Bayer Leverkusen and Borussia Mönchengladbach in their first 3 rounds, and lost narrowly to Bayern by just 1 goal. They’ve scored 8 goals in 3 rounds, looking nothing like a newly promoted side.