Unbeaten Dortmund host Union; Stuttgart eye fifth consecutive win in Bundesliga 2023-24 Matchday 7

The excitement is building heading into Matchday 7 as the Bundesliga season continues to take shape. We have new league leaders after last weekend, Bayer 04 Leverkusen and any one of the five teams could be on top after the next round of fixtures.

Borussia Dortmund remain one of three sides unbeaten this season after a nervy but significant 3-1 win at TSG Hoffenheim last Friday – secured with a wonderful last-minute goal from full-back Julian Ryerson. Last season’s runners-up now host a 1. FC Union Berlin outfit that finished fourth last season but are struggling for form, having lost four league outings in a row.

Dortmund are now level on points with champions FC Bayern München, whose heads will be held high after a spirited second-half fightback saw them secure a 2- 2 draw at RB Leipzig in Saturday evening’s big match. Harry Kane netted his eighth goal of the season already from the penalty spot to spark the comeback, and he and Bayern will be hoping for more goals when SC Freiburg visit Munich this Sunday.

While Leipzig will rue the missed chance to take a third successive win over Bayern after taking a 2-0 half-time lead, their football was impressive again with the energy of new signings Loïs Openda and Xavi standing out. They will have their sights firmly on three points when they host VfL Bochum 1848, who are yet to win a match this season and lost 7-0 at Bayern recently.

The surprise name above Dortmund, Bayern and Leipzig in the table is VfB Stuttgart, whose remarkable start to the season continued with a fifth win out of six last weekend - 2-0 at 1. FC Köln. Should Stuttgart beat VfL Wolfsburg on Saturday they would move top of the table for at least 24 hours. The encounter will be a clash between the sharpshooting pair of Stuttgart’s Serhou Guirassy, who is still the Bundesliga top scorer with 10 goals, and Wolfsburg’s Jonas Wind, who has already set a season-best in Germany with seven.

Whatever happens on Saturday, Leverkusen will be able to secure the top spot on Sunday with a victory at home to winless neighbours Köln. The omens for that look promising after a 3-0 win away at 1. FSV Mainz 05 last weekend. Particularly pleasing for Leverkusen coach Xabi Alonso would be that lead goal threat Victor Boniface failed to hit the net, yet his side still took a comfortable victory thanks to an Alejandro Grimaldo free-kick and Jonas Hofmann strike.

Mainz remain bottom of the table but have a chance to improve their fortunes on Friday evening when they visit Borussia Mönchengladbach – who took their first win of the season on the last matchday, 3-1 in Bochum.

Newly promoted SV Darmstadt 98 are also fresh from their first win of the campaign, secured 4-2 at home to SV Werder Bremen. They will be hoping to follow that up with their first away win at FC Augsburg on Saturday. Bremen, for their part, will be aiming to tighten up their defence in preparation for a visit from Hoffenheim – who have started the season well under American coach Pellegrino Matarazzo and are currently sixth in the table.

Another side eager to land their first away win are Darmstadt’s fellow Bundesliga new boys 1. FC Heidenheim 1846. A 1-0 win over UEFA Champions League representatives Union Berlin – their second successive victory at home – is sure to have lifted spirits, and Heidenheim visit Eintracht Frankfurt, who have not won any of their past five matches, in the final encounter of Matchday 7.