By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
With their perfect start to the latest Bundesliga campaign, defending champions Bayern München are already beginning to open up a gap at the top of the standings.
Yet, with a chasing pack that are showing no signs of letting up, Vincent Kompany’s men know they can’t afford to take their eyes of the ball going into a Matchday 9 filled with many a must-see game.
As one of those teams looking to haul themselves back into an early title race, fourth placed Borussia Dortmund can close the gap on those sides above them when the Blackand-Yellows travel to face a troubled FC Augsburg side in need of a lift in Friday’s opener.
The last time Niko Kovač’s men travelled to Bavaria, it was to face Bayern in the recent Der Klassiker, which BVB lost 2-1.
That stands as Dortmund’s only defeat in their last 16 Bundesliga games, and they will be hopeful of extending their impressive run at an Augsburg team who have lost five of their eight top-flight games s o far – a sequence that includes last weekend’s 6-0 reverse against RB Leipzig.
When the action rolls into Saturday, the fascinating fixtures continue to fall. Bayern will be well aware of the task they face when hosting a Bayer 04 Leverkusen team who are purring domestically under Danish coach Kasper Hjulmand.
Winning their last four Bundesliga games in a row with the likes of the evergreen Alejandro Grimaldo shining and new signings Christian Kofane and Ernest Poku exciting Werkself fans, Leverkusen realise they have every chance of adding to their remarkable run of 37 unbeaten away games in the Bundesliga. Added to that, Bayer 04 have not lost any of their last five league games between the two most recent champions.
It all means that the likes of top scorer Harry Kane and star turns Luis Díaz and Michael Olise will need to be at their very best at the Allianz Arena in Saturday’s Topspiel.
An encounter that could easily match the aforementioned Bayern vs. Leverkusen for intensity and excitement is Leipzig against VfB Stuttgart, two of the Bundesliga’s most inform teams. It’s second versus third in a match where both sides have each won six of their last seven Bundesliga outings.
After enduring trying starts to their respective domestic campaigns, both Leipzig and Stuttgart have engineered phenomenal responses to get back among the top teams and jostle for a place behind the leaders. An example of Die Roten Bullen’s turnaround arrived when they demolished Augsburg 6-0 last weekend, their biggest-ever away win in the Bundesliga. It’s full circle for Ole Werner’s youthful group, after their opening defeat by the same scoreline in Munich, with starlets like Yan Diomande, Assan Ouédraogo and Johan Bakayoko beginning to blossom.
VfB, too, can look to an influential young player in Bilal El Khannouss, but coach Sebastian Hoeneß will be just as excited to see the experienced Deniz Undav fully fit and firing again, especially ahead of such an important Matchday 9 encounter in Saxony.
Among the other games on a busy weekend, a resurgent Eintracht Frankfurt and their slick striker Jonathan Burkardt take a trip to lowly 1. FC Heidenheim 1846, while there will be plenty at stake when FC St. Pauli – who have lost their last five – host bottom-of-thetable and still winless Borussia Mönchengladbach.