Goal-hungry Aubameyang and Ibisevic set to face off
The Bundesliga returns to action after the international break with a mouth-watering clash between Borussia Dortmund and Hertha Berlin that will include an intriguing duel between two of this season’s top marksmen.
Dortmund’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Berlin striker Vedad Ibisevic have five goals apiece for the league campaign so far, with the former’s great form stretching into the UEFA Champions League, where he has also found the net twice.
Aubameyang has maintained his prolific form from last season, when he grabbed 25 Bundesliga goals for Dortmund, over into the current campaign. In his six outings so far his 16 shots on target have yielded five goals, making him level in the race for the Torschützenkönig with Ibisevic, Javier ‘Chicharito’ Hernandez and his great rival and former teammate Robert Lewandowski.
Dortmund’s Gabonese international finished five goals adrift of Lewandowski last term, but the pair renewed their competition at the start of this season and have already traded plenty of friendly banter on social media.
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But it’s not a two-horse race to be the top scorer in the division, and Ibisevic has rolled back the years to stand neck-and-neck with his adversaries as we approach Matchday 7. Now 32, ‘The Vedator’ has shown all the experience he has built up during stints with TSG 1889 Hoffenheim, VfB Stuttgart and Berlin to help propel the Old Lady into second place.
His five goals include two apiece in Berlin’s last two outings, which took him past the great Sergej Barbarez as the Bundesliga's all-time leading Bosnian marksman on 97 goals.
How these two in-form strikers perform at SIGNAL-IDUNA PARK on Friday (kick-off 20:30 CEST, 18:30 GMT) will be a fascinating subplot in this second-versus-third potboiler.