Mainz can open up a five-point lead at the top of the table when they kick-off the midweek round of matches in the Bundesliga on Tuesday night.

Thomas Tuchel's side have upset the odds with four wins in a row, including victories over Stuttgart, Wolfsburg and Werder Bremen this season.

And they will look to claim another maximum haul when Cologne visit the Stadion am Bruchweg.

A look at the league table after four matches makes for odd reading with pre-season relegation favourites Mainz on top of the pile and one of the title contenders Schalke stuck to the bottom with four straight defeats.

Schalke were beaten handsomely by local rivals Borussia Dortmund yesterday with manager Felix Magath admitting it was his "worst day" since taking over in charge of the Royal Blues a year ago.

They head to Freiburg on Wednesday desperately needing points to justify the outlay on the likes of Raul, Klaas Jan Huntelaar, Jurado and Christoph Metzelder this summer.

Hoffenheim are breathing down Mainz's necks with an unbeaten start to the season including three wins and a draw.

They host Bayern Munich, who have not won since the opening day of the season, in a mouthwatering fixture at the Rhein-Neckar Arena.

"There are no alarm bells ringing, but this is too little for our expectations," admitted Bayern's director of sport Christian Nerlinger after the 0-0 draw with Cologne at the weekend.

Just like last season, Bayern have made a slow start and a defeat on Tuesday night could see them drop 11 points behind the league leaders.

Tuesday night's other contest is between Hannover and Werder Bremen in a northern Germany derby.

There is another derby match in the north on Wednesday when Hamburg host Steve McClaren's Wolfsburg, who picked up their first points of the season at the weekend.

Bayer Leverkusen play host to Eintracht Frankfurt, Borussia Monchengladbach will look to bounce back from their embarrassing 7-0 hammering to Stuttgart when they welcome St Pauli to the Borussia Park stadium and Nurnberg entertain Stuttgart.

Dortmund will be looking for more of the same against Kaiserslautern after their good result against Schalke.