Bayern crushed Hamburg 3-0 at the same venue last season but under pressure coach Jara is looking for a reaction from his team after a torrid start to the new season.

"What we built up in eight weeks has been broken down in 21 days," raged Jara after the 5-1 thrashing by VfL Wolfsburg last Sunday.

Hamburg will take heart from their win on penalty kicks in the semi-final of the League Cup, a competition they won with a 4-2 triumph against Borussia Dortmund.

Bayern have yet to lose in the Bundesliga and could be boosted by the return of talisman midfielder Michael Ballack.

The German international missed the friendly with Italy due to a calf complaint but has an outside chance of travelling to Hamburg.

"If he can train with the team we will consider playing him at the weekend," coach Ottmar Hitzfeld told German newspaper Bild.

Hitzfeld also confirmed that Dutch international striker Roy Makaay would be handed another chance to notch his first Bundesliga goal after failing to find the net in the 2-0 win over VfL Bochum last Saturday.

Bayer Leverkusen hope to extend their 100 percent record to four Bundesliga games after collecting nine points from their opening three fixtures in the German top-flight.

Klaus Augenthaler's troops face VfL Bochum at the Ruhr Stadium Saturday and will be fully aware of the potential stumbling block against a side that garnered six points from them last season.

Peter Neururer's side won 2-1 in Bochum last time around and the 48-year-old manager is confident of ending the winning streak of Bayer with their first victory of the new season.

"We will beat Leverkusen," vowed Neururer. "We managed it twice last season."

Eight points separate pace-setters Bayer from 14th placed Bochum.

Jupp Heynckes will look to build on Schalke 04's 2-1 win over Cologne last Sunday with another three points against Werder Bremen at the Weserstadion.

The former Bayern coach claims his side have been feeling tired after the Intertoto Cup matches but the form of Turkish youngster Hamit Altintop, who has scored three Bundesliga goals so far, will give Heynckes hope of making amends for last season's 2-1 loss in Bremen.

Hertha Berlin's season suffered another setback Wednesday when the team turned up for practice to find out that wild boars had dug up the field, once again.

The practice field near Berlin's Olympic stadium has been the target of wild boar attacks before and the club has erected a fence around the ground, but to no avail. The latest visit left the pitch full of craters.

Berlin, considered possible title contenders, has had a poor start in the new season and are still without a win after three rounds.

Berlin boss Huub Stevens is under pressure in the German capital with his side still searching for their first Bundesliga goal and their first three points of the season.

"He can not score the goals himself," said a supportive Dieter Hoeness, Hertha general manager.

The UEFA Cup hopefuls face bottom side Eintracht Frankfurt who have lost all three games on their return to the Bundesliga.