By Rich

​Wolfsburg won a 3:0 shutout on Friday against hosts DSC Arminia Bielefeld, creating a new club record with a sixth consecutive clean sheet. The match’s first two goals came from Renato Steffen, who found the goal in the 29th and 47th minutes. Wolfsburg then secured its victory in the 54th minute, when Maximilian Arnold used his left foot to send the ball into the top corner of the net. The victory means that Wolfsburg is now in third place and just two points behind Leipzig, thanks to an unbeaten streak of eight league matches, including all four of their last away games. Bielefeld now remains in the league’s relegation playoff spot, and has lost all previous five contests against Wolfsburg. All eyes turn on Saturday to the Revierderby between hosts FC Schalke 04 and visitors Borussia Dortmund, both clubs that have seen better seasons. Schalke are all but certain to be relegated at the close of the season, but have benefited since the November arrival of Matthew Hoppe, who has scored five goals already in the Rückrunde. Dortmund have a much better record to this point in the season, but under new coach Edin Terzic, who replaced Lucien Favre in December, the club has a record of seven wins, two draws, and four losses. Striker Erling Haaland has managed 18 goals in Bundesliga and UEFA competition, and the club will need more goals from Haaland if it is to remain in contention for a spot in the Champions League. Dortmund’s Marco Reus will be making his 300th Bundesliga appearance on Saturday, and his record includes 130 goals and 84 assists. This will be the 98th Revierderby in the Bundesliga, and Schalke have won 32 of those matches, while Dortmund has won 35, including the reverse fixture earlier this season. Also on Saturday, league leader Bayern München will travel to Frankfurt, where the league’s top two scorers in 2021 will face off. Frankfurt have a stellar record of late, having climbed from ninth place at Christmas to third place now, just five points behind Leipzig. The club’s Andre Silva currently has the most goals (nine) of any player in Europe’s top five leagues in 2021, including at least one goal in six of the last seven games. Bayern are coming off a 3:3 draw last Monday against Bielefeld, and one of those goals came from league-leading striker Robert Lewandowski, whose 25 goals after 21 matchdays set a new league record. On Sunday, the league’s second-place club, Leipzig, will look to close the gap with Bayern when the Red Bulls travel to Berlin to play against Hertha..

By Rich

​Timo Becker is a 23-year-old defender for FC Schalke 04. Becker was born on March 25, 1997 in Herten, Germany, and spent his youth career playing for SV Erle 08 from 2000 to 2001, SSV Buer from 2001 to 2007, FC Schalke 04 from 2007 to 2013, and Rot-Weiss Essen from 2013 to 2016. His senior career continued at Essen in the Regionalliga West, where he made 74 appearances and scored 5 goals between 2016 and 2019. He joined his current club in 2019, and made his professional debut for the senior squad on November 29, 2019, coming on as a substitute in the 90th minute in a 2:1 home victory over Union Berlin. Becker has also made 23 appearances for FC Schalke 04 II, scoring 3 goals.

By Rich

​RB Leipzig reinforced its 2nd-place position in the table with a 2:1 victory on Friday over visitors FC Augsburg. The match’s first goal came in the 38th minute off a penalty kick by Dani Olmo, and his goal was followed just 5 minutes later when Leipzig’s Christopher Nkunku made the score 2:0 going into the halftime break. Although Augsburg failed to even have a shot on goal during the entire first half, and almost the entire second half, they finally tightened the match in the 77th minute, when Daniel Caligiuri found the net off a penalty kick of his own. The loss on Friday means that Augsburg have lost 6 of their last 7 matches, and Augsburg have failed to win in their last 9 competitive encounters with Leipzig. Leipzig currently have the best defense in the league, with just 18 goals conceded, and the win leaves them just 4 points behind first-place Bayern going into the rest of the weekend’s contests. The league’s 3rd-place club, VfL Wolfsburg, will host Borussia Mönchengladbach in Sunday’s late game, a match that will be important in deciding future European competition. Wolfsburg have won 6 of their last 7 games, and have conceded just 19 goals, making their defense the league’s 2nd-best after Leipzig. Adding to the club’s star defense is the scoring prowess of striker Wout Weghorst, who is now in 3rd place in the scorer’s table with 14. Gladbach’s loss to Cologne last weekend has left them 6 points behind Wolfsburg, and in 7th place in the table, and the last time the club won an away match against Wolfsburg was back in November 2003. Gladbach does, however, come to the match well-armed with the striking prowess of captain Lars Stindl, who in 20 appearances this season has scored 9 goals and assisted in 5 others. 2 other members of the Foals’ squad will be celebrating anniversaries this weekend: Florian Neuhaus is expected to make his 100th competitive appearance for the club, while Matthias Ginter is expected to make his 250th Bundesliga appearance. The weekend’s competition will not end until Monday, when Bayern host Bielefeld. While Bayern could extend their lead at the top of the table with a win over Bielefeld, the visitors are coming off a 15-day break since their last match, following the snow-induced postponement of last weekend’s scheduled match against Bremen.