This season looks to be following that all too familiar trend of Bayern Munich winning the Bundesliga title and the rest finishing a distance behind the reigning champions.
Second-place RB Leipzig are now seven points behind Hansi Flick’s team heading into a trip to rock bottom Schalke on Saturday afternoon.
Die Roten Bullen have for two seasons looked like possible challengers to Bayern for the title, only to falter at certain points in the campaign.
With a title challenge now seeming unlikely, Julian Nagelsmann’s team may now be looking nervously over their shoulders at the teams below them.
The visitors are six points clear of fifth-place Bayer Leverkusen, so there is no major concern. However, Leipzig will be keen to widen the gap in the race for the Champions League spots to prevent any slip-ups later in the season.
Their recent Bundesliga form has been highly inconsistent, hence the big gap to Bayern, as Leipzig have now won just two of their last five games in the German top-flight. Die Roten Bullen’s form on their travels has also been worrying, with just two away wins registered in their previous eight league matches.
Schalke have endured a woeful campaign in the Bundesliga, as Christian Gross’ team are currently nine points from the relegation play-off spot and also the safety of 15th place.
A 1-1 draw at Werder Bremen last time out in the league was followed by a midweek cup defeat at Wolfsburg. The draw against Bremen at least ended a three-game losing streak for the home side in the Bundesliga.
Their recent record at the Veltins Arena has not helped the Royal Blues chances of enacting a great escape from the relegation zone. The team from Gelsenkirchen have lost six of their last seven league matches on home soil.
Forebet predicts that RB Leipzig will record a victory in a high-scoring encounter to move Schalke a step closer to the German second tier.