The Bundesliga is back this weekend folks and the chasing pack have Vincent Kompany’s Bayern Munich in their sights; the Bavarians are currently five points clear at the top of the table.
Marco Rose’s Red Bull Leipzig are in second place but they went into the international break on a bit of a sticky run, losing away to Borussia Dortmund and drawing at home to Monchengladbach, with a rather odd Champions League defeat to Glasgow Celtic in between.
After a fourth place finish last term Rose has his sights set higher and he’ll be working hard in the January transfer window to refine a squad capable of making a determined challenge. Leipzig has a strong core, captained by centre back Willi Orban with his Hungarian team-mate Peter Gulacsi in goal, Austrian Christoph Baumgartner in midfield and the livewires Xavi Simons and Lois Openda up front. But Red Bull’s squad is pretty big and Rose will look to offload some players to enable him to invest in January.
The German newspaper Bild has said Leipzig will be very active with some high profile departures, including Eljif Elmas who arrived last winter from 2023 Scudetto winners Napoli but the winger has struggled to catch in the Bundesliga with limited game time and no goals. At 25 years of age the North Macedonian star still has his best seasons ahead of him and there will be plenty of suitors, but Rose may look to offload two other stars who are in later stages of their careers.
Portuguese striker Andre Silva has been in Leipzig since 2021 after impressing hugely at Eintracht Frankfurt, but he has only played cameo roles this season after a poor loan stint at Real Sociedad last term. At 29 years of age Silva needs a good move to get him back into international contention and a transfer would be useful for both player and club. And if Leipzig receive a decent offer for Swedish striker Yussuf Poulsen they could be tempted to sell, though it may not be a popular move for the fans who have seen the player rise with the club from the third tier to regular European football.
One player who Rose will be keen to keep hold of, though he is receiving attention, is 21 year old Slovenian striker Benjamin Sesko, who has scored 17 goals in 41 games for Red Bull. But Premier League title chasers Arsenal are admirers of the player and may be considering a January move.
This weekend Leipzig are back in action with a winnable game away to struggling TSH Hoffenheim on Saturday and a win will keep them in second place and maintain the pressure on Bayern who entertain FC Augsburg on Friday night. Third placed Eintracht Frankfurt, with Bundesliga joint top scorer Omar Marmoush in hot form, entertain eighth placed Werder Bremen while reigning champions Bayer Leverkusen are at home to FC Heidenheim.
The SBOTOP clash of the weekend sees seventh placed Borussia Dortmund host SC Freiburg in fifth where a win could see BVB climb to fourth, and that’s where the latest Bundesliga 2024 betting odds expect them to finish.
Kane immortalised in North London
Bayern’s star striker Harry Kane is level with Marmoush on 11 goals and the England man is writing plenty of Bundesliga 2024 news headlines as well as making a splash back in his homeland. Kane scored as England won their final Group B Nations League game against the Republic of Ireland on Sunday and on Monday he was honoured when a life size statue of him was unveiled near his childhood football club in London.
The statue was made four years ago and has been in storage until the perfect venue was found; and that turned out to be at the Peter May Sports Centre in Walthamstow where two young players from his former club, Ridgeway Rovers, did the honours. Kane joined the club as a five year old before embarking on a sparkling career for Spurs and England and he is the all time top scorer for both his Premier League club and country, and now he’s a goal a game man in Munich.
Now 31 years of age Three Lions fans have started to ponder life after Kane, though he has played down any talk of an impending international retirement. And when he looks at Portugal legend Cristiano Ronaldo who has just racked up 900 career goals at the age of 39 then what’s the rush? And when he does eventually hang his boots up, you can always go and look at Kane’s statue in North London, which I have to say is better than CR7’s statue in Portugal!
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