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Berlin (dpa) - After the short winter break, the Bundesliga starts the new year on Saturday.
The 14th matchday begins with seven games and three kick-off times and ends on Sunday with FC Bayern Munich's guest appearance at 1. FSV Mainz 05, which is still looking for a coach.
CORONA SITUATION: The English Premier League reported 18 players or members of the support team infected with the coronavirus on Tuesday, significantly fewer cases are known among the Bundesliga clubs before the first day of the new year.
The weekend corona failures include Wendell and Daley Sinkgraven (Leverkusen) and Pavao Pervan (Wolfsburg).
TRANSFER START: The transfer window will officially open on Saturday.
For just under a month until February 1, the clubs are allowed to sign and surrender players.
Several clubs such as Bayern pursuer RB Leipzig, which brings the Hungarian Dominik Szoboszlai from sister club Red Bull Salzburg, have already become active;
Schalke, for example, loaned Sead Kolasinac.
Transfer records are hardly to be expected due to the limited financial leeway caused by the Corona crisis.
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SITUATION IN MAINZ: Preferred candidate Bo Svensson is said to be the new coach of relegation candidate FSV Mainz 05, according to media reports.
The Rheinhessen should agree with their Danish ex-professional and his club FC Liefering (2nd league Austria).
It is unclear how he will start work on Bruchweg.
After the release of head coach Jan-Moritz Lichte, interim coach Jan Siewert prepares the team for the difficult game on Sunday (6 p.m. / Sky) at FC Bayern.
BIG START AT SCHALKE: The new coach Christian Gross faces a very difficult task when he returns to the Bundesliga with Schalke.
After all, the 66-year-old Swiss can plan again with Mark Uth in the away game at Hertha BSC on Saturday (6.30 p.m. / Sky).
But he left it open whether the striker would appear from the start after his serious head injury.
It is also exciting to see whether Frederik Rönnöw will return to goal or whether Gross trusts Ralf Fährmann, who last represented the Danes.
All Schalke fans sincerely hope that the series of failures will end without a win after 29 Bundesliga games.
HAALAND COMEBACK AT BORUSSIA DORTMUND: Borussia Dortmund's hopes of climbing back into the Champions League ranks right at the start of the year rest on Erling Haaland.
About a month after the striker suffered a torn muscle, Haaland is about to make a comeback in the game of fifth place BVB on Sunday (3.30 p.m. / Sky) against their two point better placed table neighbors VfL Wolfsburg.
Without the 20-year-old Norwegian, who had scored ten times in his previous eight Bundesliga games, BVB only managed one victory in the past four league games.
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