Niclas Füllkrug goes into VfB Stuttgart vs Werder Bremen with 9 Bundesliga goals after eight matchdays, one more than Ermedin Demirović has managed for VfB Stuttgart. Those totals make this a striker-led preview rather than a routine league fixture. Werder Bremen may still remember last season’s 15th-place finish on 32 points, but Füllkrug’s return has changed the mood around them.
Füllkrug's return to Bremen
Füllkrug has scored 49 goals in 124 games across two previous spells with Bremen, and this one has started fast. He has scored in each of his past seven league games, a run that puts him at the top of the Bundesliga scoring charts after eight matchdays. Karl Hein summed up the reaction around him to bundesliga.com: "Now I can understand why he was in the Champions League final. What he does for us on and off the pitch is enormous. This guy is a monster."
Stuttgart's answer through Demirović
Demirović has given Stuttgart a serious counterweight. Sebastian Hoeneß said on bundesliga.com: "Medo is a key player for us. His scoring record is outstanding once again, even though, and I see this as a positive, he could have scored even more goals. He has a fantastic standing in the team and is one of the captains."
The numbers behind that praise are straightforward enough. Demirović has 5 Bundesliga goals in 8 appearances, and his scoring has not been limited to the league, with 4 Champions League goals already on his record. The two forwards arrive at the same fixture in form, which gives Stuttgart vs Werder Bremen a sharper edge than the table alone would suggest.
The meeting in Stuttgart on 7 November will not decide anything by itself, but it does put two of the league's most productive forwards in the same game.
Written by Jack Mercer with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 1 outlet. How we work →
