Bayern not planning to go easy on Augsburg

Carlo Ancelotti's Bayern Munich have righted the ship after a bit of an early season wobble - having brushed aside PSV Eindhoven in the Champions League and Mönchengladbach in the Bundesliga over the past week. On Wednesday evening they face their Bavarian rivals Augsburg in the first of two meetings between the sides this week. As Bayern keeper Manuel Neuer conceded at the prematch press conference, Augsburg have been a difficult team to play in recent years and like the other coaches of teams with heavy schedules, Ancelotti can be expected to tinker with his starting eleven. If there were any doubt about how the German champions would approach this one, Bayern chairman, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge dispelled it on Saturday. The  61-year-old praised his team for their solid win over Gladbach - before demanding that they do "exactly the same again on Wednesday."

More injury woes for Tuchel

Borussia Dortmund, who many had expected to be Bayern's closest rivals again this season, haven't been firing on all cylinders. Saturday's  3-3 draw in Ingolstadt showed yet again that while Dortmund have no trouble scoring - despite injuries to players like Marco Reus and Andre Schürrle - they are mediocre at best when it comes to keeping the ball out of their own net. It will also be interesting to see who coach Thomas Tuchel will rest ahead of Saturday's Ruhr derby against Schalke. In Jens Keller's Union Berlin they face a second-placed second division side who are on a roll, having won six of their last seven games.

The capital city club will can also count on strong support for an away game, with reports suggesting around 10,000 Union fans are planning to make the trip to Dortmund on Wednesday. Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Tuchel described the upcoming task as a "complicated" one. He also revealed that in addition to the injury woes Dortmund were already facing, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang had suffered a knock in training, which has cast doubt over his availability for the Cup tie.

Even match in Cologne

Cologne will be looking to get back to winning ways after being brought back to earth by Hertha Berlin on Saturday. In what looks, on paper, like a very even matchup, they play host to Hoffenheim, who will again be without Leonardo Bittencourt. The midfielder, who had just returned from a thigh injury suffered on Matchday 3, sustained severe ankle ligament damage in training on Monday and isn't expected to return to action until next year. Julian Nagelsmann's charges, who remain undefeated this season, have marched up to fourth place in the standings, just one point ahead of Cologne after Saturday's big 3-0 win in Leverkusen.

Two hot sides

Fans in Nuremberg will get what has become a rare opportunity to enjoy a Bundesliga-like atmosphere when Schalke come to town on Wednesday evening. Schalke may finally have turned the corner after a difficult start to the season under new coach Markus Weinzierl, they've won four of their last five matches in the Bundesliga and the Europa League. However, like Tuchel, Weinzierl can also be expected to select his team with one eye on Saturday's derby. Like the Royal Blues, Nuremberg also had a difficult start to the season, but they too have improved of late, having won each of their last four contests.

Can Wolfsburg stop the bleeding?

Pretty much everything that can go wrong has gone wrong for Wolfsburg this season. Even the sacking of coach Dieter Hecking didn't bring the short-term spark that such moves often do - with the Wolves succumbing to a 3-1 loss against to relegation favorites Darmstadt in their first match under caretaker Valerien Ismael.  It seems Heidenheim, who have aspirations of playing in the Bundesliga one day, maybe even next season, couldn't catch Wolfsburg at a better time - as well as their dire form, the Wolves are likely to be without Julian Draxler.

German Cup second-round matches

Wednesday, October 26

FC Astoria Walldorf vs. Darmstadt (18:30 CET)

Hannover vs. Düsseldorf 

Heidenheim vs. Wolfsburg

Greuer Fürth vs. Mainz

Nuremberg vs. Schalke (20:45 CET)

Cologne vs. Hoffenheim  

Bayern Munich vs. Augsburg

Borussia Dortmund vs. Union Berlin