By Rich M.

​​A late goal from VfL Bochum’s Goncalo Paciencia was not enough to avoid a loss to hosts TSG 1899 Hoffenheim on Friday. Hoffenheim’s 3 goals came from an own goal by Bochum’s Erhan Masovic in the 32nd minute, Andrej Kramaric in the 43rd minute, and Ihlas Bebou in the 76th minute. The victory ends Hoffenheim’s 4-match winless streak and consolidates 6th place in the table for the club, while Bochum remain just 4 points above the relegation zone. Bayern will continue their pursuit of the top position in the table when they travel to Frankfurt on Saturday. The club’s Harry Kane established a new record on Matchday 12: with 18 league goals, he is now the most prolific English goalscorer in league history. The previous meeting between the two clubs, however ended in a 1:1 draw, with goals from Randal Kolo Muani and Leroy Sané. Frankfurt have a strong home record against Bayern: they have won 20 and lost 16 of their top-flight meetings, with a further 16 draws. Frankfurt’s Egyptian international forward, Omar Marmoush, is in solid form with 6 league goals. The big match on Saturday is the late match between hosts Borussia Dortmund and visitors RB Leipzig. Just 1 point separates the two clubs near the top of the table, with Leipzig in 4th place and Dortmund in 5th. Not a single one of the pair’s 16 competitive meetings has ended without a goal. Leipzig’s Loïs Openda arrived at the club over the summer, and has found the net 10 times in his opening 13 league appearances. He is supported by the league’s top goal-maker, Xavi Simons, who in his maiden Bundesliga campaign has already teed up 7 goals for his side. Dortmund have lost 4 of their last 5 contests with Leipzig, including last season’s DFB Pokal quarterfinal. Dortmund also lost last season’s fixture in Leipzig, but did find some revenge with a 2:1 win in the same season’s reverse fixture. First place at the top of the table won’t be settled until Sunday, however, when Leverkusen travel south to take on VfB Stuttgart. Leverkusen are currently benefiting from the delayed Bayern match from last weekend, as Bayern currently have a superior goal differential, were the two clubs tied on points. Fortunately for Leverkusen, their goal talent is widely distributed: Victor Boniface has 8 goals this campaign, Alejandro Grimaldo has 7, and Jonas Hofmann, Jeremie Frimpong, Florian Wirtz, and Victor Boniface each have 5 assists. Stuttgart, however, will not be an easy opponent: they occupy 3rd place in the table with 10 wins, and those 10 wins equal the club record set back in 2003/04 under Felix Magath.

By Rich M.
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Köln picked up a valuable 3 points on Friday and escaped the relegation zone, at least temporarily, with a 1:0 away win over hosts SV Darmstadt 98. The match’s lone goal came in the 60th minute, when Davie Selkie slid the ball into Darmstadt’s net. The goal is Selkie’s 4th this term, and the victory is Köln’s second. Köln and Darmstadt are now tied on points in the table, with 9 each, although Darmstadt remains in the relegation play-off spot on goal differential. The club at the bottom of the table, 1. FC Union Berlin, will have their work cut out for them when they travel to the other end of the country on Saturday to take on FC Bayern München. The visitors picked up a point on Wednesday in European competition with a 1:1 draw against Braga, in the club’s first match under new head coach Nenad Bjelica. Union are still without a win in 16 matches in all competitions, and will play on Saturday without the services of Sheraldo Becker and Danilho Doekhi, who are both injured. Bayern are coming off a blank against Copenhagen in the UEFA Champions League earlier in the week, but Harry Kane is all but certain to contribute to the club’s run of scoring in 63 consecutive league matches. Kane has already picked up 18 goals since joining Bayern, and has been averaging 1 goal every 59 minutes. If Bayern picks up a goal on Saturday, they will equal the record they set between 1970 and 1974. Saturday’s late game between hosts VfB Stuttgart and visitors SV Werder Bremen will be an important one for the hosts, if they wish to remain on the heels of league leaders Leverkusen and Bayern. Bremen won the last encounter between the two clubs by a 2:0 score, but Stuttgart have won 9 of 12 league games this season, while Bremen have collected just 1 win in their last 7 matches. Perhaps the biggest match of all, though, this weekend is Sunday’s fixture between hosts Bayer 04 Leverkusen and visitors Borussia Dortmund. Leverkusen have been holding on to a slim 2-point lead over Bayern, thanks in part to wins in their first 6 home games of the campaign. A 7th home win on Sunday would be a new club record, as would 9 successive top-flight wins home and away. Dortmund did, however, win both fixtures last season, and have won 7 of the previous 10 encounters. Leverkusen’s Alex Grimaldo will look to extend his streak of 4 goals in his past 3 matches, and his signing with the club back in May on a free transfer was certainly one of the biggest coups Leverkusen has landed in recent years. Grimaldo’s first goal for Leverkusen came in September, and contributed to a 2:2 draw with Bayern.

By Rich M.

Takuma Asano picked up 2 goals on Friday in Darmstadt to give visitors VfL Bochum 1848 their first win of the season. Asano scored 1 goal in each half of the match, in the 25th minute and in the 54th minute, while Darmstadt’s lone goal came from Fabian Nürnberger in the 43rd minute. The 3 points lift Bochum, at least for the time being, 1 point clear above Darmstadt going into the rest of the weekend’s contests. Darmstadt could see themselves falling into the relegation zone before Saturday is out, depending on what happens when Mainz host Leipzig and Köln host Augsburg. Leverkusen will look to retain their lead at the top of the table when they travel down to take on a strong Hoffenheim on Saturday. Hoffenheim became only the second team this season to take points off VfB Stuttgart, with a 3:2 victory last weekend. That victory included Wout Weghorst’s first league goal for the club. Hoffenheim are currently in sixth place in the table and are enjoying their third-best start to a Bundesliga campaign, having collected 6 wins in 9 matches. Leverkusen have enjoyed a virtually flawless start to their campaign, dropping their only points in a 2:2 draw away at Bayern. The club is coming off a 2:1 victory over Freiburg last Sunday, and those goals came from the scoring duo of Florian Wirtz and Jonas Hofmann. Leverkusen’s biggest scorer so far this season has been Victor Boniface, who has collected 7 goals to date. A sixth-straight league win would see the club go at least 4 points clear of everyone else before the biggest game of the weekend: Saturday’s Klassiker between hosts Borussia Dortmund and visitors FC Bayern München. Bayern are clearly the bigger goal threat of the two, with Harry Kane and Leroy Sané occupying the 2nd and 5th spots respectively in the league scoring table. Dortmund’s most capable scorer this season has been Julian Brandt, who has scored or assisted in his last 8 consecutive league appearances. Dortmund are currently benefiting from a 20-match unbeaten run at home, and last lost at home on Matchday 2 of last season.  That unbeaten run at home includes the last Klassiker in Dortmund, which ended in a 2:2 draw. While Bayern will be without Joshua Kimmich on Saturday due to suspension, goalkeeper Manuel Neuer showed last weekend that he is back in full form, and has beaten Dortmund 19 times in all competitions while playing for Bayern. Finally this weekend, don’t miss Sunday’s match between visitors VfB Stuttgart, currently in third place, and hosts 1. FC Heidenheim 1846.

By Rich M.

Hosts VfL Bochum 1848 appeared to be on their way to their first win of the season on Friday, but a late goal from visitors 1. FSV Mainz 05 resulted in a 2:2 draw. Both clubs were still without a win going into the match, and it was Bochum’s Kevin Stöger who scored the first goal, in the 21st minute. An own goal in the 59th minute from Kevin Schlotterbeck evened the score 1:1, but Schlotterbeck made up for the mistake in the 82nd minute, giving the hosts a 2:1 lead. It was Mainz’s Tom Krauß who found the net in the 6th minute of extra time to give the visitors a draw. Mainz remains, however, in last place in the table, and the point to Bochum moves them 1 point ahead of Köln going into the rest of the weekend’s matches. FC Bayern München’s goaltender Manuel Neuer is set to return on Saturday when his club hosts Darmstadt. Neuer hasn’t featured for Bayern since November 12, 2022, after breaking his leg following last winter’s World Cup. Bayern are currently enjoying a 12-game unbeaten run, but the upstarts from Darmstadt will look to spoil Bayern’s efforts to leap ahead of Leverkusen at the top of the table. Bayern have yet to lose a Bundesliga fixture against Darmstadt, having won the last 7 matches against them, including the last 5 home games. Another interesting match on Saturday will be that between hosts SV Werder Bremen and visitors Union Berlin. The clubs are tied with 6 points apiece just clear of the relegation zone, in what has been a stunning fall from grace for the squad from Berlin. Union are without a win in 6 league fixtures, while Bremen’s winless streak extends to 3. A goal from Rani Khedira won the last contest between the 2 clubs in the last such fixture, but Die Eisernen have won just twice in the league since then. Sunday will feature a pair of exciting and important fixtures, when Frankfurt host Dortmund and Leverkusen host Freiburg. Frankfurt are in the midst of an unbeaten streak at home that goes back to a loss against Dortmund last season, and are expected to welcome back Kevin Trapp in goal after a back complaint and Mario Götze, who became a father for the second time. Dortmund have won their last 4 competitive meetings with Frankfurt, and only Bayern have beaten Eintracht more often. Over in Leverkusen, Die Werkself have accumulated 7 league wins so far this season, and anticipate the return of Patrik Schick following 226 days on the sidelines. Freiburg snapped a 2-game losing streak last weekend with a 2:1 home win against Bochum.