By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Super Eagles forward Victor Boniface and England icon Harry Kane have been two of the standout performers in the Bundesliga this season.
Kane has the chance to add to his four Bundesliga goals in as many games when FC Bayern München host winless VfL Bochum 1848 on Saturday. The England striker is averaging a goal every 88 minutes in the Bundesliga, having only failed to fire once this season. His opener in the thrilling 2-2 draw with leaders Bayer 04 Leverkusen means he’s now one of three players on four goals, alongside 1. FC Union Berlin’s Kevin Behrens and Leverkusen counterpart Victor Boniface.
Boniface was kept quiet in Munich but has fired off some 29 attempts already – a trigger happy record at this stage in a Bundesliga campaign. Stopping the Nigerian behemoth and title candidates Leverkusen represents a thankless task for 1. FC Heidenheim 1846 when they go to the Bay Arena on Sunday, though the promoted club did record their maiden Bundesliga win last time out. On the day Frank Schmidt made history as German football’s longest-serving head coach (16 years/591 games), the Bundesliga new boys ran out 4-2 winners over SV Werder Bremen.
RB Leipzig are hot on the heels of the top two, after another Xavi-inspired outing helped them saunter past FC Augsburg. The Paris Saint-Germain loanee scored one and made another to swell his total contribution to seven for the season. Marco Rose’s side are now a single point off the pace, albeit ahead of fourth-placed VfB Stuttgart on goal difference alone.
The surprise package of the campaign so far, not least having survived via the relegation play-offs last term, Sebastien Hoeneß’s VfB have won three of four games, most recently putting 1. FSV Mainz 05 to the sword, thanks to a Serhou Guirassy hat-trick. The Guinean has scored in every game this season, with multiple showings in three of them helping him to twice as many strikes as Messrs Kane and Boniface. At home to rock-bottom and pointless SV Darmstadt 98 on Friday, it stands to reason he could be hitting double figures sooner rather than later – and potentially sending Die Schwaben top overnight at least.
Record champions Bayern and Supercup winners Leipzig – who go to winless Borussia Mönchengladbach – will be keen to redress any balance on Saturday. Borussia Dortmund are also back in the hunt after winning at SC Freiburg but won’t have it easy against inform VfL Wolfsburg, another team on nine points – one better off than Dortmund – heading into Matchday 5. That said, BVB have won their last five home meetings with the Wolves, scoring six in each of the previous two, and haven’t lost on their own patch to the 2008-09 Bundesliga champions in 11 years.
In the remaining Saturday fixtures, Union Berlin return from a UEFA Champions League debut at Real Madrid with a home game against high-flying TSG Hoffenheim; Augsburg and Mainz collide in search of a first win of the season; and Bremen host a 1. FC Köln team with one point to show for their efforts thus far.
Xabi Alonso’s Leverkusen take centre stage on Sunday, looking to maintain their unbeaten start and – depending how things shake out on Saturday – reclaim first place. Then it’s over to Eintracht Frankfurt and Freiburg, another two of the Bundesliga’s seven representatives in UEFA competition during the week. A European hangover might not be such a bad thing for the neutral, particularly as it teases the promise of even more goals. A season-high 38 of them on Matchday 4 made it 138 for the campaign – two short of the all-time record at this juncture (140 in 1984-85).