15:30 Kickoffs: Leipzig crisis deepens, Stuttgart draw, Freiburg snap skid

Marco Rose's German Red Bulls now find themselves winless in six fixtures on-the-trot. Talk over Rose's status is surely set to kick into overdrive following the latest league defeat against VfL Wolfsburg. The Saxons were undone early by Germany's green company team Saturday afternoon at the Red Bull Arena and now close out November with a wretched record of one draw and five losses. 

Rose went with just one change to the team that lined up in the Champions' League midweek. Striker Benjamin Sesko replaced André Silva. Ralph Hasenhüttl saw no reason to tinker with the XI that secured its first win home win of the season last week. Die Wölfe nevertheless switched from a 4-2-3-1 to a much more aggressive 4-1-4-1. Makeshift midfielder Bence Dardai pushed farther forward while skipper Maximilian Arnold ran the midfield alone. 

Hasenhüttl's new formation yielded immediate dividends. Inside of 4 minutes, the Lower Saxon guests snatched the lead via a beautifully played team goal. Tiago Tomas, Patrick Wimmer, and Ridle Baku were all involved in setting up Mohamed Amoura's 1-0. The Algerian striker had an easy finish from four meters out after his teammates cut through the RB ranks with a series of crisp passes. 

Less than a minute later, an unfortunate deflection off Leipzig's Kevin Kampl enabled Tomas to receive credit for the 2-0. The VfL Portuguese attacker was still accorded way too much space in the box in the 5th. Rose's men found it difficult to maintain their shape after conceding two goals early. Amoura added the third in the 16th. A poorly-marked Dardai played the Algerian in. RB keeper Peter Gulacsi let Amoura's distance effort slip through his legs. 

The hosts continued to struggle to get a grip defensively. Wimmer (38th) and Amoura (40th) came close to adding a fourth goal before the first-half drew to a close. On occasion, Rose's crew popped up in the attacking third. Leipzig nonetheless offered far too little going to forward to suggest that a comeback might be possible. The Wolves continued to look the more adept side. 

Joakim Maehle finally sealed the deal with the 4-0 off a corner in the 64th. Captain Willi Orban managed to pull a goal back off a set piece in the 82nd, but VfL substitutes Mattias Svanberg and Kevin Behrens combined at 90+1 to give Wolfsburg the 5-1 victory. One awaits news on Rose's future as the RB trainer with bated breath. 

Union Berlin-Leverkusen

Xabi Alonso's defending champs certainly got off to a better start than they did last week against Heidenheim. In a novel 4-1-4-1 formation, die Werkself took the lead early at the Stadion An der Alten Försterei. Jeremie Frimpong put Germany's red company team ahead 1-0 in the 2nd. Bo Svensson's FCU nevertheless kept themselves in the game with solid defending and some courageous play beyond the half-way line. Die Eisernen eventually netting the equalizer in the 29th thanks to a scintillating solo run from Benedict Hollerbach and a sharp finish from Woo-Yeong Jeong. 

The teams remained deadlocked at 1-1 for quite some time. As is often the case with Leverkusen, however, a match in which Florian Wirtz doesn't start usually swings the way off B04 once the German phenom is introduced off the bench. Wirtz required 13 minutes to set up Patrik Schick's 2-1 in the 71st. In full administrative mode after retaking the lead, Xabi's professionals effectively hung on to earn their sixth win of the campaign and move into a tie with Eintracht Frankfurt (playing tomorrow) for second place.

Bremen-Stuttgart

Sebastian Hoeneß' Swabians felt themselves still mired in the nightmare that was their midweek Champions' League humbling when Werder attacker Justin Njinmah scored the opener for the Hanseatic hosts in the 6th minute. Luckily for the Württembergers, Ermedin Demirovic was able to capitalize on a positional error from SV keeper Michael Zetterer in the 20th to level up the scoreline. The very active Njinmah then had a couple of chances to restore the lead, including a near penalty draw in the 29th and a strike off the post at 45+4. 

The south German guests weren't especially convincing in the second half, allowing Werder to dictate the pace and conceding far too many corners. Jens Stage finally capitalized off a corner in the 77th, burying the 2-1 after several failed clearances. A win for the Hanseaten very much appeared to be in the cards until Demirovic bagged his second goal of the night against the run-of-play in the 88th. Angelo Stiller did well to catch Bremen off guard with a quick unlock of the Bosnian on the play. A few half chances from both sides didn't alter the 2-2 before full time.

Freiburg-Gladbach

Geardo Seoane's Fohlenelf appeared to be to more dangerous side during the opening 45 in Breisgau. Unfortunately, two misses from BMG attacker Alassane Plea precluded the guests from taking the lead. Gladbach were made to pay for their profligacy near the end of the first half when Lucas Höler poked in the 1-0 off a rebound from an effort from new striking partner Michael Gregoritisch. Four minutes after the restart, Gregoritsch rolled the SCF downfield on a counter. This time, it would be Ritsu Doan who polished off a Höler rebound for the 49th minute 2-0. 

New German national team striker Tim Kleindienst pulled a goal back in the 61st. In his return to the Europa Park Stadion after bagging a brace there for the German national team over the recent break headed home a Lukas Ullrich cross for the 1-2. Within a minute, however, the Black Forest hosts had struck back. Gregortisch registered another assist with a pinpoint pass into the box for Höler. Julian Schuster's new personnel selections again looked highly competent on the 3-1. The squad remained competent until the end to snap a four-game league winless run. 

Augsburg-Bochum

In their third match under newly appointed trainer Dieter Hecking, VfL Bochum struggled to find much of a rhythm in their trip to the Fuggerstadt. The Bavarian Swabian hosts too really get into gear until after the half-hour mark. Jess Thorup's FCA ultimately woke up and - after a furious offensive phase - took the 1-0 lead from the spot when Philipp Tietz converted a penalty. Not much else beyond a disallowed Alexis Claude-Maurice goal happened at the WWK Arena. The hosts simply closed out the victory.