League leaders Bremen have a three-point cushion at the summit and a home victory over Energie Cottbus on Saturday can make it a six-point gap with Bayern and Schalke 04 facing off 24 hours later.

Bremen have won their last four league games, scoring a staggering 18 goals in the process, to see their title odds cut to 6/5.

Brazilian playmaker Diego, 21, has been a key figure behind the surge and has earned a recall to the Brazilian national team after scoring five goals to top the Bundesliga scoring charts.

"They always had faith in me here at Bremen and gave me responsibility," said Diego. "I always said it was my aim to get back in the Brazil fold.

"Now I want to keep playing well and help Bremen stay on top for the remainder of the season."

Promoted Energie Cottbus look like lambs to the slaughter but the East German club have started the season impressively and lie sixth in the standings.

If Bremen can win the pressure would be on Bayern to respond and they have a tough fixture against Schalke who are level with them on points.

"Bremen are going so strong at the moment and are playing the best football in Germany but that can all change with a few injuries," said Bayern president Franz Beckenbauer.

"We have a few of them at the moment and I think we will get better when some players come back."

Bayern are still without first teamers Owen Hargreaves, Lucio, Valerien Ismael and Lukas Podolski while Dutch midfielder Marc van Bommel is rated 50-50 for the Schalke trip.

A 0-0 draw with Sporting Lisbon in the Champions League on Tuesday was enough to see Bayern into the last 16 of the competition but the peformance prompted a chorus of jeers after the final whistle.

"The fans pay their hard-earned money for goals but it was just not our day," said Belgian defender Daniel van Buyten.

With three league defeats already this season Bayern can not afford to slip up again against Schalke or the boos could become louder.

For Schalke, runners-up to Bayern two seasons ago, the league is everything after early exits in the UEFA Cup and domestic cup.

A win over Bayern would certainly lift spirits but the Gelsenkirchen club must do without Brazilian playmaker Lincoln who has a thigh injury.

Elsewhere Bayer Leverkusen coach Michael Skibbe, assistant to former Germany coach Rudi Voller at Euro 2004, is praying for some respite in Saturday's match with lowly Mainz 05.

Leverkusen, who reached the Champions League final in 2002, are out of the German cup and lie 12th in the table.
fixtures
Saturday
Werder Bremen v Energie Cottbus, Bayer Leverkusen v Mainz 05, Hertha Berlin v FC Nuremberg, Borussia Dortmund v Arminia Bielefeld, VfL Wolfsburg v SV Hamburg, Alemannia Aachen v VfB Stuttgart
Sunday
Schalke 04 v Bayern Munich, Eintracht Frankfurt v Borussia Monchengladbach