Bundesliga Matchday 24: Robben Looks To Extend Career Best Form

Bayern Munich's 31-year-old Dutch winger is in the form of his life, scoring more goals than ever before in his career. Bundesliga hipsters Augsburg and Wolfsburg face-off, while Schalke look to cure their derby woes.



It's not often in football that a player improves as he gets older. That's exactly what Arjen Robben has done at Bayern Munich. The Dutchman has already reached a career best 17 goals this season and in the last six domestic games, all Bayern victories, the Dutchman has been involved in 13 goals (seven goals, six assists). This weekend, Bayern play a Hannover side that Robben has scored six in his last seven against. If Bayern's number 10 does make an appearance and win the game, he'll also set a new Bundesliga record for the shortest number of games played (126) before reaching 100 wins.



"Every week Bayern score five or six, and Robben gets two or three of them." Alexander Meier, the man closest to Robben in the Bundesliga scoring charts, best surmises just how hard it is to catch a flying Dutchman.



More goals seem inevitable for the Dutchman, as does another league victory for Pep Guardiola. Hannover have yet to register a competitive win in 2015 and while head coach Tayfun Korkut has deflected the pressure off his team, the 40-year-old is running out of time to turn things around. If they are to pick up their first win since December at home, it will be the first time Hannover have beaten the Bundesliga's record winners since October 2011.



Bundesliga hipsters face-off



The remarkable rise of Augsburg has seen Bundesliga fans dub the Bavarian club the new hipster team of Germany. Since Marwin Hitz's dramatic injury-time equalizer against Leverkusen though, Markus Weinzerl's side have been short of the form that saw them climb into European contention. After a disappointing loss at struggling Hertha BSC last weekend, Augsburg will want to clinch a third win since the turn of the year, but in their way stand the Bundesliga's newest rising force.



Wolfsburg are unbeaten in 11 matches and cruising towards the Champions League next season. Star men Bas Dost and Kevin de Bruyne have been involved in 38 of the clubs 53 goals this season, with 13 goals for the Dutchman and a league-high 15 assists for de Bruyne. The Wolves are currently eight points behind Bayern and ten clear of Gladbach second (eight points). A win for the visitors keeps the faint title-race alive, while the hosts are now in need three points to keep in touch with an ever-changing pack.



Schalke look to bounce back



After the embarrassment of last weekend's 3-0 defeat to Borussia Dortmund in the Ruhr Derby, Roberto Di Matteo's Schalke desperately need a change in form after four defeats on the bounce. Mustering just two shots on goal and allowing 31 from BVB - a new record for Dortmund - at the Signal Iduna Park means a change of tactics is almost certainly a must for the Royal Blues.



"We were garbage," said Marco Höger immediately after the game. Captain Benedikt Höwedes added, "We thought we'd be able to stop them by playing two holding midfielders. That didn't work at all." Di Matteo must be more positive if his side are to beat Hoffenheim, the visitors to the Veltins Arena, on Saturday. Markus Gisdol's team are just two points behind Schalke and arrive with 22-year old wonderkid Kevin Volland returning to form, having scored three in his last three domestic games.



Bundesliga Matchday 24 fixtures: Stuttgart vs. Hertha BSC (Friday), Hannover vs. Bayern Munich, Schalke vs. Hoffenheim, Hamburg vs. Borussia Dortmund, Freiburg vs. Werder Bremen, Mainz vs. Borussia Mönchengladbach (late Saturday), Cologne vs. Frankfurt (Sunday), Paderborn vs. Bayer Leverkusen (Sunday).