Frankfurt have won just three out of their last 34 meetings against Bayern and it will be a major upset if they make it four.

Bayern have concerns about the fitness of Ghanaian defender Sammy Kuffour, while strikers Roque Santa Cruz and Alexander Zickler are definitely sidlelined.

Ottmar Hitzfeld's side are favourites to reclaim their title while Frankfurt are favourites for the drop after securing the final promotion place last season.

New Schalke coach Jupp Heynckes faces a baptism of fire on Saturday as his Bundesliga return sees him lead his troops out against Ruhr rivals Borussia Dortmund.

Matthias Sammer's side will be looking to put the League Cup final defeat against SV Hamburg behind them and victory against arch rivals Schalke 04 would give the supporters a lift.

The two teams could not be separated last season with a 2-2 draw in Gelsenkirchen and a 1-1 draw at the Westfalen Stadium.

Injuries to Evanilson and Torsten Frings, who are both out for six months, have hindered Dortmund's preparations as has the suspension of Sebastian Kehl, who was sent off for pushing the referee in the League Cup final.

New loan signing Flavio Conceicao may make his debut.

Hertha Berlin lost just three games at home last season but one of them was a 1-0 reverse against Werder Bremen and The Old Lady will be looking for revenge.

In fact Bremen have had the Indian sign over Berlin with the capital side only winning three out of their last ten home matches against Werder.

Thomas Schaaf's side have had more match practice after participating in the Intertoto Cup and will hope to use that to good effect against Hertha.

VfL Wolfsburg are set to unleash record signing Andres D'Alessandro, a 9.5 million euro (10.8million dollars) capture from River Plate, on VfL Bochum.

The Argentine playmaker has impressed in the Intertoto Cup and will be expected to inspire his new side to a similar result to that achieved last season, a 2-0 victory.

Kaiserslautern start three points behind everyone else after being found guilty of under-the-counter payments to players in an attempt to avoid tax.

Their combative Belgian coach Eric Gerets will be keen to start with a win over 1860 Munich at the Fritz-Walter Stadium to wipe out that handicap and the omens are good.

1860 Munich have won just once at the venue in 14 attempts.

After recently winning the League Cup final SV Hamburg will be looking forward to the opening match with Hannover.

Bernardo Romeo, the club's top-scorer last season with 15 goals, is a doubt for the tie with Japanese forward Naohiro Takahara - scorer of one of their goals in the victory over Dortmund - and Sergei Barbarez likely to deputise.

Bayer Leverkusen picked up a miserly 21 points at the BayArena last season but will hope to put newcomers SC Freiburg to the sword and consign last season's campaign to the memory banks.

Borussia Monchengladbach and FC Cologne lock horns on Sunday in a passionate North German derby.

There is added spice to the match with Gladbach coach Ewald Lienen a former manager at FC Cologne, guiding the club into the Bundesliga just three years ago.

VfB Stuttgart will be looking to build on last season's Champions League qualification with three points over Hansa Rostock.

Stuttgart were a potent force away from home last season, bagging 27 points on their travels.