"Ones to watch" for Bundesliga Matchday 3
1. Paul Wanner (Heidenheim)
Is Paul Wanner going to be the next super talent in the Bundesliga? He certainly has everything one needs to shine in Germany's top flight: he's able to create chances for his teammates, he's able to think quickly in order to get out of difficult situations and duels and most importantly: he's winning Heidenheim matches with his goals and assists!
Not just, but definitly also because of Paul Wanner, Heidenheim are going into matchday 3 as the current Bundesliga frontrunners - who would have believed that sentence to be true just two years, one year… one month ago!?
While their wins over St. Pauli and Augsburg have been impressive, Dortmund seem to be their first real challenge this season. The BVB team are, just like Heidenheim, still unbeaten and are yet to concede a goal this season - but they're also not too convincing in front of goal themselves. Furthermore, Heidenheim proved to be a challenging opponent for Dortmund even last season: at the end of both games in the 2023/24 season, no winner had been found (2:2 , 0:0).
This time Heidenheim come to Dortmund with huge confidence - and a diamond in Paul Wanner surely wants to show his class and talent on the pitch once more; becuase if he continues to perform like he has, a certain Julian Nagelsmann might just pick up the phone to have a talk with the youngster.
2. Tim Kleindienst (Mönchengladbach)
Another new signing has had an instant impact on his new team: former Heidenheim star Tim Kleindienst. Interestingly enough, he is the second player who's high up on DFB coach Nagelsmann's radar! Three goal contributions in two games this season - a promising start into the new campaign for sure.
Recently (jokingly) nicknamed “Tim Smallservice”, the striker seems to have taken the right step up at the right time and helped a struggling Gladbach side from last season to a near-victory over the invincible Leverkusen team of last year. Even though the game finished in a loss for Gladbach, Kleindienst was able to demonstrate his qualities right away!
A mix of a target man and a creatively dropping number nine, Kleindienst is not only improving his teammates with his playing style; he also remembers his key job which is scoring goals! His opnening goal against Bochum on matchday two is proof of that.
Gladbach are coming up against the runners up of last season: VfB Stuttgart. Normally it'd be more than a hot-take to bet on Gladbach over Stuttgart, but the latter have struggled find their feet in this new campaign: a loss against Freiburg on matchday one, a win against Münster in the DFB-Pokal game, followed by a disappointing draw against Mainz on matchday two: where do Stuttgart really stand?
With Stuttgart struggling to defend set pieces so far and Kleindienst/Gladbach starting the season in good form, don't be surprised if Mr. Smallservice strikes again.
3. Andrej Kramarić (Hoffenheim)
Normally labeled as a typical “late bloomer”, Hoffenheim's Kramarić is known to really get into good form by the end of a Bundesliga season. Seven of his 15 goals last season have come in the last seven games of the season!
But this time, Kramarić seems to have switched up his routine: Four goals in the first two games of the season - some Hoffenheim fans are still in disbelief! The Croatian international has established himself as the key player for Hoffenheim - and this time for the whole season as it seems.
Hoffenheim play Leverkusen on matchday three who's unbeaten run in the Bundesliga has just been ended by RB Leipzig on matchday 2. Normally, Leverkusen are still the odds-on favourite for this matchup, but history has a funny way of repeating itself - and sometimes clubs and players who were on really good runs and streaks find themselves in a hole right after.
Kramarić is known to be a specialist when it comes to “bigger”/"better" opponents: a hat-trick against Bayern on matchday 34 last season proved this theory to be accurate. Maybe he will be the one to elongate Leverkusen's run of consecutive losses.
4. Jamal Musiala (Bayern Munich)
After providing three assists and one goal during the international break, it would have been wrong to not include Jamal Musiala in this list. Even though Sky Germany pundit Didi Hamann recently identified Musiala to be a “future problem” for the Bavarians, Musiala might just be the most important player in the squad right now.
Musiala, who scored the very first goal in this Bundesliga season for Bayern, will be keen to keep up his great form and prove his doubters wrong - and what better opponent to do that against than a newly promoted team.
Bayern face Kiel on matchday 3 of the Bundesliga and Kiel haven't had the best of starts into the season: two losses on the bounce against Hoffenheim and Wolfsburg - games in which Kiel haven't really been able to prove that they belong in Germany's highest division.
Traditionally, Bayern like to play against promoted teams: in the last 59 games against newly promoted teams, Bayern lost only three games; and by the looks of the current form of both teams, Bayern will make sure to grow that streak even further - with Musiala's help.
Adding to that, Musiala had been left out of the Ballon D'Or top 30 list in the beginning of this month. This fact could lead to the urge to prove himself to the world; Didi Hamann was right, Musiala will be a problem - but not for Bayern, but their opponents.
5. Péter Gulácsi (RB Leipzig)
It's very rare for goalkeepers to make appearances on these type of lists, but Peter Gulácsi is deserving of this “nomination”. One could have easily picked out any of the RB Leipzig attackers and/or midfielders and praise them for their contribution to win against the defending Bundesliga champion Bayer Leverkusen - but the most important player in recent weeks for Leipzig has been their goalkeeper!
Many people and experts thought this would be the season in which Gulácsi finally loses his starting spot to another keeper - RB Leipzig signed goalkeeping talent Maarten Vandevoordt and see him as the long term heir to Gulácsi. But the Hungarian international stepped his game up and is still starting games for Marco Rose's side.
Adding to that, Gulácsi has very much earned to be in this position, since he kept Leipzig in the game against Leverkusen in what might have been the best goalkeeping performance so far in this season.
On matchday 3, Leipzig will come up against an improved Union Berlin side who just managed to beat St. Pauli on matchday one. “Die Eisernen” are seemingly struggling to create many chances so far, having scored only one goal per game in this season. With Gulácsi being in top form, they will not only struggle against Leipzig's furious attacking players, but also with scoring themselves.
Union were not able to score at all in the last two games against Leipzig - this trend might just continue for now.