By Rich M.

​Moritz Jenz is a 24-year-old centre-back for VfL Wolfsburg. Jenz was born on April 30, 1999 in Berlin, Germany, and spent his youth career playing for Tennis Borussia Berlin until 2015, and then joined English side Fulham in July 2015 after being scouted. On August 25, 2020, Jenz joined newly-promoted Swiss Super League side Lausanne-Sport on a permanent deal, where he remained until August 30, 2021, when he signed a 5-year deal with Ligue 1 side Lorient. On July 19, 2022, he joined Scottish Premiership side Celtic on a season-long loan, but he then joined Schalke 04 on January 26, 2023 on a loan until the end of the season. He joined his current club on June 16, 2023.

By Rich M.
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Niclas Füllkrug scored his first goal for Borussia Dortmund on Friday as the club defeated hosts TSG 1899 Hoffenheim 3:1. Füllkrug’s goal was the first of the match, and came in the 18th minute, when he capitalized on a defensive mistake by John Brooks. Hoffenheim tied the score, however, just a few minutes later, when Mats Hummels conceded a penalty, allowing Andrej Kramaric to level from the penalty spot. Dortmund retook the lead just before the first half ended, rifling in a rebound after Hoffenheim goaltender Oliver Baumann was unable to hold a cross from Donyell Malen, allowing Marco Reus to convert the rebound. The game’s final goal came in the 5th minute of extra time, when Julian Ryerson finished a run from deep in his own side, skipping past several defenders and beating Baumann. Reus’s goal means that he has now found the net in his last 3 consecutive Bundesliga outings, which is the first time he has done so since the end of the 2020/21 campaign. Dortmund are now unbeaten 6 matches into a season for the first time since a 15-game run to start the 2018/19 season, and enjoy a momentary stay at the top of the table going into the rest of the weekend’s contests. Those contests commence with what could be an exciting matchup between hosts VfL Wolfsburg and visitors Eintracht Frankfurt. Wolfsburg are just 2 points ahead of Frankfurt in the middle of the table, and have more cumulative wins against Frankfurt than against any other team they’ve faced. Eintracht are also on their longest run without a clean sheet against 1 team. The previous match between these 2 sides ended in a 2:2 draw. The big match on Saturday, though, is the late game between hosts RB Leipzig and visitors FC Bayern München. While Bayern’s Harry Kane is on a scoring streak, including his first league hat-trick against Bochum, Leipzig have now collected 4 Bundesliga wins from 5, including a victory away to Gladbach last weekend. Just 1 point separates the 2 sides, and the hosts have won their last 2 competitive meetings with Bayern: 3:1 in last season’s Rückrunde, and 3:0 in the Supercup. Among the other clubs playing this weekend, 3 sides that have managed to collect just 1 point each so far this season are all playing at home: Köln host Stuttgart on Saturday, Mainz host Leverkusen on Saturday, and Darmstadt host Bremen on Sunday. Matchday 6 will end on Sunday with the late game between hosts Freiburg and visitors Augsburg. Augsburg’s Sven Michel could unseat striker Phillip Tietz after returning from injury a week ago.

By Rich M.

Josha Vagnoman is a 22-year-old defender for VfB Stuttgart. Vagnoman was born on December 11, 2000 in Hamburg, Germany, and spent his youth career playing for SC Poppenbüttel in 2009 and Hummelsbütteler SV from 2009 to 2010, before joining Hamburger SV in 2010. In February 2018, newly appointed head coach Bernd Hollerbach promoted Vagnoman to the HSV first-team squad. Vagnoman went on to make 74 appearances for HSV and HSV II between 2018 and 2022, scoring 9 goals. He joined his current club in 2022, where he has since scored 3 goals in 28 appearances. Vagnoman has also made 23 appearances for Germany’s U17, U18, U19, U20, U21, and senior squads since 2017.