BERLIN: Who can end Bayern Munich’s winning start to the season?
After a week in which they defeated European champion Paris Saint-Germain and 2024 Bundesliga champion Bayer Leverkusen to stretch their record to 16 wins across all competitions, Bayern should be wary of a surprise against Union Berlin in the Bundesliga on Saturday.
Union have never beaten Bayern at home in the Bundesliga since their promotion in 2019, but the Bavarian powerhouse can count on a battle in Köpenick, where Union held Bayern to 1-1 last season and where Steffen Baumgart’s team are unbeaten in four games across all competitions.
Bayern were also drawn at Union in the next round of the German Cup in early December.
Another win in the league for Bayern would match the team’s 10-game winning start in 2015 under Pep Guardiola.
Key matchups
Borussia Mönchengladbach host Cologne for the Rhine derby on Saturday, with both teams confident after morale-boosting wins. Cologne beat promoted rival Hamburger SV 4-1, and Gladbach enjoyed a 4-0 win at St. Pauli for their first Bundesliga win of the season, and the first under interim coach Eugen Polanski.
Borussia Dortmund will attempt to bounce back from their 4-1 defeat at Manchester City in the Champions League when they visit promoted Hamburger SV on Saturday.
Niko Kovač’s side had been on a four-game winning run since a 2-1 loss at Bayern.
Elsewhere, Leipzig haven’t lost a game since the 6-0 defeat at Bayern in the opening round. Ole Werner’s team travel to Hoffenheim for what rivals tauntingly call “El Plastico.”
Leipzig and Hoffenheim are among the league’s most unpopular teams because their ascents to the Bundesliga were financed by energy drinks company Red Bull and software billionaire Dietmar Hopp, respectively. Hoffenheim advertised tickets for the game by calling it “Der Unbeliebtico” – a play on the German word for disliked.
Players to watch
Luis Diaz will be keen to make amends for getting sent off during Bayern’s win at PSG for a bad tackle on Achraf Hakimi. The injured Morocco right back faces a race against time to be back for the Africa Cup of Nations in his home country.
Union defender Leopold Querfeld will be tasked with keeping Bayern’s attacking trio of Diaz, Harry Kane and Michael Olize in check – no small order for the 21-year-old Austria international.
Ivory Coast teenager Yan Diomande forced an own goal and scored another in Leipzig’s 3-1 win over Stuttgart, showing why there’s so much excitement about the 18-year-old who joined from Spanish team Leganes in the offseason.
Dutch midfielder Wout Burger scored twice in Hoffenheim’s 3-2 win over Wolfsburg last weekend, helping the team to sixth with their third straight Bundesliga win.
Off the field
Germany presented their new national team shirt on Wednesday — the last produced by Adidas before Nike takes over in 2027 — and it’s an homage to the jersey worn by West Germany when it won the World Cup in 1990. It features the black, red and yellow stripes of the German flag stretching from the shoulders across the chest.
According to business newspaper Handelsblatt, Nike is paying the German soccer federation some 100 million euros per year, twice as much as it was earning from longstanding supplier Adidas, to take the business from its German rival.
The new shirt will make its debut when the Germany men face Luxembourg in a World Cup qualifier on Nov. 14. The women will get to wear it on Nov. 28 in the Nations League final against Spain.
Bundesliga record in sight as Bayern Munich aims to keep winning run going
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Bundesliga record in sight as Bayern Munich aims to keep winning run going
- Union have never beaten Bayern at home in the Bundesliga since their promotion in 2019
- Bayern were also drawn at Union in the next round of the German Cup in early December
Man United climb to third, Fulham sink sorry Spurs
- Red Devils have taken their tally to 19 points from a possible 21
LONDON: Benjamin Sesko stretched his hot streak with the winning goal as Manchester United beat Crystal Palace 2-1 to go third in the Premier League, while Tottenham failed to dispel relegation fears after defeat at Fulham.
Sesko was handed his first start in seven games since Michael Carrick took charge at Old Trafford and rewarded his boss with another vital goal to edge United closer to a return to the Champions League.
Palace had taken an early lead at Old Trafford when Maxence Lacroix outmuscled Leny Yoro to guide in a header from Brennan Johnson’s corner.
But United hit back to remain unbeaten under Carrick and take their tally to 19 points from a possible 21.
The game swung on one incident as Lacroix was sent off and conceded a penalty for pulling back Matheus Cunha just before the hour mark.
Bruno Fernandes confidently stroked the resulting spot kick past former teammate Dean Henderson.
Fernandes was then the creator for the second as his curling cross was powered in by Sesko.
The Slovenian has now scored seven times in his last eight appearances to quieten critics of his £74 million ($100 million) price tag after a slow start to his career in England.
Tottenham remain perilously poised just four points above the relegation zone as interim boss Igor Tudor again failed to halt their alarming slide after a 2-1 defeat at Craven Cottage.
Harry Wilson and Alex Iwobi gave Fulham a deserved half-time lead as they moved up to ninth and back into contention for European football next season.
Richarlison headed in a late consolation for Tottenham, but they remain the only Premier League side without a win in 2026.
The one crumb of comfort for Spurs was defeat for relegation rivals Nottingham Forest, 2-1 at Brighton.
All three goals arrived in the first 15 minutes as Diego Gomez and Danny Welbeck netted for the Seagulls either side of Morgan Gibbs-White’s reply.
Forest sit two points above the drop zone ahead of a daunting trip to Manchester City on Wednesday.
