By Rich

​Stuttgart enjoyed its first home win of the season on Friday with a 2:0 victory over Mainz. Mainz seemed to dominate the match during the first half, but that all changed ten minutes into the second half, when Borna Sosa sent a cross from the left to Sasa Kalajdzic, who headed the ball into the goal. The victory was then sealed in the seventy-second minute by Silas Wamangituka, who ran the ball nearly the length of the pitch to score his eleventh goal of the season. Wamangituka became the first Stuttgart player to score eleven goals after the first nineteen games of the season since Fredi Bobic, who did the same twenty-four years ago, during the 1996/7 season. On Saturday, all eyes will turn to the Leipzig-Leverkusen match, as Leipzig looks to defend its second-place position in the table against the club with the second-tightest defense in the league. Although in second place, Leipzig have experienced an erratic start to 2021, thanks in part to a stunning 3:2 defeat last weekend at the hands of Mainz. The gap between the club and first-place Bayern has now widened to seven points, so Leipzig cannot a second consecutive defeat. Although American player Tyler Adams scored his first Bundesliga goal last weekend, he may be dropped in favor of returning Kevin Kampl and Nordi Mukiele. Leipzig will be without the services of Emil Forsberg, who he is out with a knee injury, but may see the return from a groin problem of Yussuf Poulsen. Leverkusen have also struggled recently, with four losses in their last six contests, but they have nevertheless defeated Dortmund. Leverkusen’s attack on Saturday is likely to be led by club captain Charles Aranguiz, Florian Wirtz, and Kerem Demirbay in the midfield, backing up either Lucas Alario or Patrik Schick. Four of the past nine Bundesliga meetings between the two clubs have resulted in draws, including the last three. Looking ahead to Sunday, two clubs in proximity to relegation will face off, when Köln host Bielefeld. Köln are going into the match with new signings Max Meyer and Emmanuel Dennis, and a win over Bielefeld could leapfrog them out of the relegation play-off spot. Although Köln have defeated nearby rivals Dortmund and Schalke this season, they lost to Bielefeld 1:0 in the reverse fixture this season, and Bielefeld are coming off of victories over Hertha and Stuttgart and a loss to Frankfurt. Finally on Sunday, two other top-form clubs will wrap up the competition when Wolfsburg host Freiburg. This will be Wolfsburg’s 400th home game in the Bundesliga.

By Rich

Erik Thommy is a 26-year-old midfielder and winger for VfB Stuttgart. Thommy was born on August 20, 1994 in Ulm, Germany, and spent his youth career playing for SV Kleinburen from 2000 to 2002, SSV Ulm 1846 from 2002 to 2009, TSG Thannhausen from 2009 to 2010, and FC Augsburg from 2010 to 2013. His senior career continued at Augsburg, where he played for both FC Augsburg and FC Augsburg II between 2013 and 2018. He played on loan to 1. FC Kaiserslautern from 2015 to 2016 and on loan to Jahn Regensburg from 2016 to 2017. He moved to his current club in January 2018, and scored his first Bundesliga goal on February 24, 2018 against Eintracht Frankfurt. He played the 2019-20 season on loan to Fortuna Düsseldorf, and his current contract with Stuttgart runs until June 2022.

By Rich

The current Bundesliga season’s Rückrunde began on Friday with a thrilling 4:2 victory for hosts Borussia Mönchengladbach over visitors Borussia Dortmund. The match’s first 4 goals were split between a brace each for Gladbach’s Nico Elvedi and Dortmund’s Erling Haaland. Elvedi’s goals came in the 11th and 32nd minutes, while Haaland’s goals in the 23rd and 29th minutes kept the match even going into the break. The rest of the match, however, belonged to the hosts. Gladbach’s Ramy Bensebaini curled the ball into the far corner of the net less than 5 minutes into the second half, and teammate Marcus Thuram - in his first appearance after a 5-game suspension - headed in the contest’s final goal in the 79th minute. The win leaves Dortmund now replaced by Gladbach in the table’s 4th position, and Dortmund have now played 3 matches without a win. Gladbach’s victory ends an 11-game losing streak against Dortmund, and the club is now just 1 point behind Leverkusen and 4 points behind Leipzig going into the rest of the weekend’s matches. Those matches will include several contests between clubs separated by few points in the standings, including those between Leverkusen and Wolfsburg, Freiburg and Stuttgart, and Hertha and Bremen. Leverkusen moved briefly into 2nd place earlier in the week with a win over Dortmund, ending a 4-game winless streak, while Wolfsburg’s win over Mainz was their 3rd consecutive match with 2 goals scored. Wolfsburg’s Wout Weghorst is on his way to his best Bundesliga campaign, and just needs 5 more goals to match his total of 17 in the 2018/19 season. Stuttgart will welcome the return of Nico Gonzalez and Silas Wamangituka from suspensions when they travel to nearby Freiburg, as the pair has combined for 15 goals and 5 assists this season. Their opponents, however, have been in unusually good form in recent weeks, and only an own-goal earlier in the week against Frankfurt prevented what would have been a 3rd win in 4 matches. Hertha have been experiencing a lack of goals recently, thanks to blank sheets from Jhon Cordoba, Matheus Cunha, and Sebastian Piatek. Bremen are coming off a narrow, and late, loss at Gladbach, and are battling a goal drought of their own. Bundesliga fans will have 2 big questions to ponder until Sunday: just how lopsided a victory will Bayern enjoy when they travel to Gelsenkirchen, and can veteran striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar turn things around for Schalke?