Do VfB Stuttgart boast the best collection of strikers in the Bundesliga right now?
From Harry Kane at Bayern Munich to Patrik Schick at Bayer Leverkusen, there are many brilliant strikers plying their trade at Bundesliga clubs in 2024/25 – but can any club boast as many reliable goal machines as VfB Stuttgart currently?
In Deniz Undav, Ermedin Demirović and Nick Woltemade, Stuttgart boast a trio of attacking stars that would walk into almost any team in Germany on current form. Their 65 joint-appearances across all competitions this term have yielded 36 goal involvements (28 goals, eight assists) – averaging one every 106 minutes between them. No other Bundesliga club can boast three strikers with at least six league goals each this season, underlining the impact they're having.
That collective form has been key as Sebastian Hoeneß's side have challenged on all fronts, despite the loss of last season’s top scorer Serhou Guirassy to Borussia Dortmund over the summer. Die Schwaben currently sit fourth in the Bundesliga after 18 matches, with the fourth-best goal difference in the table. The latter has much to do with a goals-scored tally (36) that only four clubs have bettered this term.
Of Stuttgart’s 36 Bundesliga strikes, Undav, Demirović and Woltemade have scored 21 (46 percent of the club's overall figure), indicating their importance in the final third.
Those figures are all the more impressive when one factors in that the trio only joined the club on permanent deals in the summer – though Undav spent last season on loan at the MHPArena from Premier League club Brighton & Hove Albion.
Undav scored 18 Bundesliga goals for Hoeneß’s side last season. The Germany international looks on course to reach a similar tally despite injury limiting his game time earlier in the campaign. Of his seven strikes so far, four have given Stuttgart a 1-0 lead, while the other three have come as a substitute – the latter a joint-league-high this term – showing how decisive he's been in key moments of games.
Demirović arrived from Augsburg last summer and has quickly repaid the club’s faith in him, scoring eight times so far in the league and adding physicality and intelligence to Stuttgart’s attack. His three headed goals are the second-most scored by any player in the Bundesiga this term (only Tim Kleindienst of Borussia Mönchengladbach has more), while he's also hit the woodwork twice.
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Woletade could be the pick of the bunch, given he cost nothing from Bundesliga rivals Werder Bremen. The 22-year-old's impact has grown as the season has progressed. Since December, the 6'4" striker has scored six and asissted twice in seven appearances, including a brace against Union Berlin on Matchday 13 that helped turn a two-goal deficit into a 3-2 home win.
Stuttgart are also into the quarter-finals of the DFB Cup and are hopeful of qualifying for the UEFA Champions League play-off round. As a long season progresses, and games and injuries inevitably pile up, having a pool of quality players to pick from can bridge the fine margins between success and failure. In Undav, Demirović and Woltemade, Stuttgart boast a trio of attackers few teams in world football would turn down.
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