By Rich

​Mainz ended their 3-game losing streak on Friday with a 4:1 win over visiting FC Augsburg. Mainz opened the scoring just 10 minutes into the match when Karim Onisiwo scored off a cross from Silvan Widmer, and his goal was followed just 5 minutes later when Germany U21 striker Jonathan Burkardt set up Stefan Bell for a finish. The match’s third goal then came from Burkardt himself in the 26th minute with a header from Onisiwo. Augsburg finally scored in the 69th minute thanks to a goal from substitute Andi Zeqiri, but his goal was quickly followed 2 minutes later by a second goal from Burkardt to give Mainz their biggest win since Bo Svensson took over as coach back in January. Augsburg are now without a win in 11 away Bundesliga matches, an (unwanted) record. The intense competition at the top of the table will resume on Saturday when Bayern host Hoffenheim and Dortmund travel to Bielefeld, a competition that is taking place not only in the table but also in the scoring race. Just 1 point separates the 2 clubs in the table, while Bayern’s Robert Lewandowski and Dortmund’s Erling Haaland are tied for the league lead in goals with 9 each. Lewandowski will be without the assistance of Alphonso Davies, who is out with a thigh injury, and Leon Goretzka, who has been suffering from a head cold. Also missing for Bayern is head coach Julian Nagelsmann, who has been infected with the coronavirus and will be replaced by assistant coach Dino Toppmöller. Dortmund will be missing Haaland himself when they take on Bielefeld. The Norwegian striker is out for a few weeks with a hip injury, meaning that his wait to become the youngest player in league history to reach 50 goals will have to be extended. Sunday will feature one of the league’s biggest derbies when Leverkusen travel to nearby Köln. The 2 clubs have met 66 times so far in the 1. Bundesliga, and Leverkusen have won 26 of those encounters, while the Billy Goats have won just 26 of them. While Leverkusen are coming off a 5:1 loss to Bayern, but do feature one of Germany’s hottest young talents in Florian Wirtz. Wirtz actually came up through Köln’s youth academy, and so far this season he has scored 4 goals and assisted in another 6. Köln’s Anthony Modeste, meanwhile, needs just 2 more goals to reach 50 for the club. Also on Sunday: will Union Berlin’s Taiwo Awoniyi fire his club to a fourth straight Bundesliga win, or will their opponents, Stuttgart, extend their unbeaten streak to 4?

By Rich

Noah Weißhaupt is a 20-year-old winger for Sport-Club Freiburg. Weißhaupt was born on September 20, 2001 in Rostock, Germany, and spent his youth career playing for SV Kappel and SV Ebnet before joining Freiburg’s academy in 2012. He was promoted to SC Freiburg II for the 2020-21 season, during which he scored 5 goals and assisted in 11 in 33 matches. He extended his contract in the summer of 2021 and was promoted to the first team. He made his debut for the first team on September 12, 2021 as an 87th-minute substitute for Lukas Kübler in a 1:1 draw with 1. FC Köln. Weißhaupt has also made 4 appearances for Germany’s U18 and U20 squads, scoring 1 goal.

By Rich

​Hosts TSG 1899 Hoffenheim made it a miserable night for visitors 1. FC Köln on Friday with a 5:0 blowout. Key to the win was Ihlas Bebou, who opened the scoring with goals in the 41st and 49th minutes. He was followed with goals from Christoph Baumgartner in the 51st minute, Dennis Geiger in the 74th minute, and Stefan Posch in the 87th minute. Hoffenheim are now unbeaten in 11 Bundesliga meetings with Cologne, including victories in the last 7, and the goals were Bebou’s first in the top flight since May. The loss was a clear setback for Köln’s still rather new head coach, Steffen Baumgart, as it was only his second loss in 9 competitive matches as head coach. Saturday will feature several contests likely to be especially competitive, as their participants sit adjacent to each other in the table. Eintracht Frankfurt will host Hertha Berlin, and just 2 points separate them in the lower half of the standings. Frankfurt are coming off a win over Bayern, their first win of the season, and will welcome back Kevin-Prince Boateng, who won the 2018 DFB Pokal during his single season with Frankfurt, but who now plays for Hertha. Hertha have only collected 6 points in 7 outings, and are struggling with injuries. The other club from the capital city, Union Berlin, will host nearby Wolfsburg, and just 1 point separates those 2 clubs. A win for Union Berlin would allow them to surge past Wolfsburg, who are now 3 games without a win. Union Berlin’s Max Kruse is in his second season with the club, but once spent a single season playing for Wolfsburg. Kruse has contributed to 7 of the club’s goals this season, and he is joined by one of the league’s top scorers in Taiwo Awoniyi, who has found the net in 5 of 7 outings. Also on Saturday, Fürth will host Bochum, and both teams have struggled this season. Fürth have picked up Cedric Itten from Scotland, who will join scorer Branimir Hrgota in an effort to escape the bottom spot in the table. Bochum, who were promoted last season, have fared almost as poorly as Fürth, and are currently 300 minutes without a goal. Also worth watching on Saturday is the Freiburg-Leipzig contest. Freiburg haven’t lost a competitive match since the final matchday last season, and will be playing their first game in their new Europa-Park Stadion. Looking ahead to Sunday, Augsburg will host Bielefeld in the last match of the weekend, and just 1 point separates those clubs. Augsburg are looking to collect their second straight home win, while Bielefeld have lost 3 of their last 4. A loss to Augsburg could send them to the automatic drop zone, depending on the outcomes of Saturday’s matches.