Bayern Munich will not underestimate Werder Bremen when they travel to northern Germany this weekend looking for another three points to keep their slim hopes of winning the Bundesliga this season alive.

Bayern trail league leaders Borussia Dortmund by 14 points and are aware that they cannot drop any more points this season if they are to successfully defend their title. They travel to face a side who are 11 points and ten places behind them in the league table, but midfielder Thomas Muller is still not expecting it to be an easy match.

"We cannot make the error of letting the league table distract us," he said on werder.de. "Werder still have a great team with many good players, but they are just performing below their potential so far.

"I am sure that they are going to really rise to the occasion in front of their own fans and we have got to be warned. I hope that they soon get away from danger, but after our game because we still need to get as many points as possible."

Werder still have a great team with many good players, but they are just performing below their potential so far.
Thomas Muller, Bayern Munich forward

Bayer Leverkusen have the chance to put the pressure on Dortmund tomorrow night when they host third-placed Hannover. A win for Jupp Heynckes' side would reduce the deficit at the top of the table to just eight points before the league leaders make a tricky trip to a resurgent Wolfsburg on Saturday.

Victory for Hannover, meanwhile, would take them back up to second in the table and ten points behind the Westpalians.

Early-season pace-setters Mainz's title challenge would appear to be over after two consecutive defeats in 2011, but their fans have other priorities anyway as they hope to complete a rare double over local rivals Kaiserslautern on Saturday.

There is derby action in Stuttgart too as Freiburg make the shortest trip of their season on Sunday, while Hamburg have one of their longest trips of the year to Nurnberg.

Elsewhere, Schalke host Hoffenheim and St Pauli entertain Cologne in a relegation battle before the weekend's action concludes in Frankfurt with Eintracht hosting the league's bottom club Borussia Monchengladbach.