Bundesliga
Cologne and Hamburg defying expectations
They may have suffered narrow defeats on Matchday 8, but Cologne and Hamburg have confounded the pre-season doom-mongers in the opening months of the 2025/26 campaign.
Hamburg, who are competing in the top flight for the first time since 2018, have managed to keep their heads comfortably above water so far, picking up eight points from as many games to establish a four-point cushion above the early-season bottom three.
Reigning Bundesliga 2 champions Cologne are three points better off, leaving Lukas Kwasniok’s side in the top half of the table as they prepare to welcome Merlin Polzin’s charges to the RheinEnergieSTADION on Sunday afternoon.
Watch: Hamburg cruise past Mainz on Matchday 6
The Billy Goats in particular have bolted out of the traps, matching their points tally from the first half of their ill-fated 2023/24 campaign after just seven matches – despite playing only three of those games on home soil.
Only high-flying RB Leipzig, reigning DFB Cup holders VfB Stuttgart and in-form Borussia Dortmund have beaten them in the Bundesliga, with Dortmund needing a 96th-minute Maximilian Beier effort to emerge triumphant at Signal Iduna Park last time out.
One of the hardest-working teams in the division, Cologne have clocked up 121.3 kilometres so far this term – fewer only than leaders Bayern Munich and Hoffenheim – but the Cathedral City club are so much more than just a plucky, close-knit outfit with an admirable work ethic.
Remarkably, all 12 of their goals this season have come from open play. At a time when teams across Europe are placing an even greater emphasis on set pieces, that impressive figure tells you everything you need to know about how Kwasniok wants his team to play football.
While it feels unfair to single out individuals for special praise, veteran forward Marius Bülter and Icelandic midfielder Ísak Jóhannesson have made a major impact since their summer arrivals, while in 19-year-old Saïd El Mala, Cologne have one of the Bundesliga’s most exciting prospects in their ranks.
The explosive Germany Under-21 winger added further gloss to his growing reputation with stunning efforts against Hoffenheim and Augsburg earlier this month, making him the second youngest Cologne player this century – after Billy Goats legend Lukas Podolski – to find the net in back-to-back games for the club.
Hamburg may be three points below their opponents ahead of Matchday 9, but only five teams – Bayern, Stuttgart, Leipzig, Dortmund and Bayer Leverkusen – have collected more points than Polzin’s charges in their last five games.
It could have been more, too. Die Rothosen matched Leipzig for long spells in their 2-1 defeat at the Red Bull Arena on Matchday 7, while Wolfsburg were fortunate to leave the Volksparkstadion with all three points last time out.
Hamburg’s solid start has been underpinned by a stingy defence that has only been breached 11 times, with five of those goals coming at the Allianz Arena in mid-September. Only the Bundesliga’s current top four boast better defensive records this term.
Watch: Luka Vušković named September's Rookie of the Month
Croatian teenager Luka Vušković – September’s Rookie of the Month – has defied his tender years with a string of exceptional performances alongside fellow defenders Daniel Elfadli, Warmed Omari and Nicolás Capaldo, winning a league-high 75 percent of his duels this season.
The 18-year-old Tottenham Hotspur loanee has also won 51 aerial challenges, making him the only player in that category to pass the half-century mark. For context, Mainz defender Andreas Hanche-Olsen – Vušković’s closest pursuer on that list – has only won 37.
Even if Hamburg’s opponents manage to get the better of their defence, they still have to find a way past Daniel Heuer Fernandes.
Only Manuel Neuer, Gregor Kobel and Alexander Nübel have saved a higher percentage of shots than the 32-year-old keeper, who has kept out over 73 percent of the efforts he has faced.
And while there is clearly room for improvement at the other end of the pitch – only Borussia Mönchengladbach have scored fewer than Hamburg’s seven goals – Polzin’s side are anything but shot-shy.
Only Bayern, Stuttgart and Leipzig have registered more attempts than HSV’s 114, offering cause for cautious optimism ahead of what promises to be an intriguing tussle at the RheinEnergieSTADION this weekend.