There is one week left in the Bundesliga’s ‘Hinrunde’ – the first half of the season.
Bayern Munich look set to run away with it once again and Borussia Dortmund’s comfortable spot in second place is a reflection of how inconsistent the teams below them have been, rather than their own performances. Hoffenheim and Freiburg will both be looking for a win on Matchday 17 (MD17) to decide the true ‘surprise package’ of the Hinrunde.
Ahead of the winter break, I’ll be imposing a new rule on these Scout Squads because – in the interest of variance and having something new to say each week – future squads will exclude Robert Lewandowski and Erling Haaland. They’re not human, it’s not fair.
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GOALKEEPERS
MANUEL RIEMANN (5.9m), MARVIN SCHWABE (1.0m)
Bochum are unbeaten in their last five at home, although they’re also now five games without a clean sheet. They host Union Berlin, who have been uncharacteristically inconsistent of late by only winning two of their last eight and are without an away win from four. This bodes well for the game’s third-highest scoring keeper Manuel Riemann. He has 47 points from his last four at home and can add to that against their relatively low-scoring opponents.
Marvin Schwäbe has been fairly uninspiring since taking over from Timo Horn between the posts for Köln, with 18 points from four games, but for 1.0m you can’t really complain. Stuttgart are fresh from a 5-0 hammering at the hands of Bayern.
DEFENDERS
ALPHONSO DAVIES (15.3m), RAPHAEL GUERREIRO (14.1m), ANGELINO (14.3m), BENNO SCHMITZ (4.9m), IAGO (6.9m)
Alphonso Davies’ nine points-per-game average is joint-highest amongst all defenders. He has proven multiple times now that he doesn’t need to score, assist or grab a clean sheet to score big, as evidenced by his 14 points against Mainz on Matchday 15 (MD15) and 19 against Freiburg on Matchday 11 (MD11). He has 45 from his last three home games and Bayern host a Wolfsburg side who can’t seem to buy a win. He is the week’s best defensive pick.
Dortmund’s Raphael Guerreiro looks set to be fit for Saturday’s visit to Hertha Berlin. Alongside Davies, he is also on nine points-per-game, although he has started just eight Bundesliga matches this season. Hertha have the second-worst defence, which is a good sign for the marauding Portuguese full-back. If fully fit, he could feast.
Angelino is showing early signs of returning to his form of last season under new manager Dominic Tedesco, especially after his brace of assists and 19-point haul on MD15. Leipzig host 17th-placed Arminia Bielefeld who, despite a solid Matchday 16 (MD16) win over Bochum, are the league’s lowest scorers.
Benno Schmitz was heavily involved against Wolfsburg without actually racking up points but that could change versus Stuttgart. He’s the eighth-highest scoring defender and has six double-digit hauls so far, highlighting his explosive potential against one of the worst back lines. For the fifth defender, it may be made compulsory to have at least one selection who is against Greuther Fürth every week and Augsburg’s Iago fits the bill this time. He has 23 points from his last two away games and, well, everyone knows how bad Fürth are. With 0% ownership, he’s a great budget defensive option ahead of the next Wildcard.
MIDFIELDERS
JESPER LINDSTROM (7.8m), JULIAN BRANDT (11.7m), CHRISTOPHER NKUNKU (17.1m), JAMAL MUSIALA (12.7m), DAVID RAUM (10.7m)
It seems to all be coming together for Oliver Glasner’s Frankfurt. They have five wins from six in the league, including the impressive 5-2 demolition of Bayer Leverkusen. Jesper Lindstrom has 31 points from his last two games, racking up two goals and an assist as the summer signing finally looks to be coming good. Whilst Mainz’s home record is very impressive, they’ve only won one of their last four on the road and could come unstuck when visiting the Waldstation.
Julian Brandt has perhaps been Dortmund’s most improved player under Marco Rose. The German now has either a goal or an assist in each of his last four league appearances and Dortmund are about to visit the poor defence of Hertha Berlin. Brandt is a great option in great form ahead of Saturday’s game.
I also considered putting Christopher Nkunku into the ‘Scout Squad Ban’ group for extraordinary overachievers but he’s been saved by wanting to see more of his role under Tedesco. Of course, his 27-point haul on MD15 was a good sign but let’s see what he can do against relegation-battlers Arminia Bielefeld first. Nkunku is the midfielder with most goals (seven) and most shots (43) – an incredible player in great form and he should do well again in MD17.
Midfield injuries mean Jamal Musiala is expected to start again at home to Wolfsburg. The German prodigy has three goals and three assists, despite starting just four league games. He could deliver a big return against Florian Kohfeldt’s disaster of a Wolfsburg side.
David Raum is very good at taking set-pieces. Borussia Mönchengladbach are very bad at defending set-pieces. This is a good thing for David Raum. This is not a good thing for Gladbach. Three double-digit hauls during his last five starts show what the future ‘Die Mannschaft’ left-back can do and, alongside Gladbach having conceded the third most set-pieces, Hoffenheim have scored the fourth-most. Raum will have plenty of opportunities here.
FORWARDS
PATRIK SCHICK (15.7m), ANTHONY MODESTE (9.0m), SERGE GNABRY (16.0m)
With 16 goals from 13 Bundesliga games and eight in his last three. Patrik Schick is truly in the form of his life ahead of Leverkusen’s visit to Freiburg. He’s racked up 61 points from the most recent trio and opponents Freiburg have only won once since Matchday 10 (MD10) – although it was the 6-0 drubbing of Gladbach. Yet when you’re in the sort of form Schick is, fixture doesn’t really matter.
Only two Bundesliga players have taken more than 50 shots this season – Robert Lewandowski (70) and Anthony Modeste (60). Modeste is also the third-top scorer in the league, with ten goals, after another game-saving brace for Köln against Wolfsburg on MD16. Modeste now faces a Stuttgart defence that were heavily beaten by Bayern Munich and have generally conceded a lot of shots, which will bode well for the trigger-happy Frenchman.
Serge Gnabry’s hat-trick and brace of assists against Stuttgart took him to nine goals and two assists from nine Bundesliga starts this season. Injuries elsewhere mean Gnabry looks guaranteed to start here and, after his performance last time, you’d fancy Gnabry to strike again. Wolfsburg are now seven games without a win and have conceded 18 goals in that period.
