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.
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.
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