Welcome to our first Fantasy Bundesliga stats-based article of the current season. Ahead of the final nine games, we take a look at the top-performing Bundesliga teams and players of the campaign so far.
Bundesliga Team Stats
Attacking
Goals
- Bayern Munich | 72
- Borussia Dortmund | 55
- RB Leipzig | 49
- Eintracht Frankfurt | 46
- Bayer Leverkusen | 45
xG (G – xG)
- Bayern Munich | 53.2 (+18.8)
- Borussia Dortmund | 45.6 (+9.4)
- RB Leipzig | 45.2 (+3.8)
- Bayer Leverkusen | 38.4 (+6.6)
- Borussia Mönchengladbach | 37.9 (+2.1)
Shots per 90
- Bayern Munich | 18.5
- Borussia Dortmund | 15.0
- RB Leipzig | 14.0
- VFB Stuttgart | 13.5
- Bayer Leverkusen | 12.9
Key passes per 90
- Bayern Munich | 14.2
- Borussia Dortmund | 11.4
- VFB Stuttgart | 10.8
- RB Leipzig | 10.5
- Bayer Leverkusen | 10.4
Losing talismanic striker Robert Lewandowski has not greatly hampered Bayern Munich’s ability to score goals this season. The winners of the previous 10 Bundesliga titles lead the way again for Goals, xG, Shots-per 90 and Key passes per 90 in the current campaign. As usual, having at least one Bayern attacker in your Bundesliga Fantasy team at all times is all but essential, although choosing between them has been difficult this year, with returns being spread around and rotation often coming into play. This being said while they were runaway leaders in terms of xG last season, their healthy 17-goal lead at the top of the goalscoring charts here comes with a huge xG overperformance of +18.8. While they finished the 2021/22 campaign with 24.5 more xG than second-placed RB Leipzig, they only lead Dortmund by 7.6 this term, suggesting they have in fact exhibited a downturn in goal threat.
Despite also losing their former talismanic striker Erling Haaland, current league-leaders Borussia Dortmund have also exhibited their strong goal threat this season, trailing only behind Bayern for all four attacking stats. As with Bayern’s, an interesting feature of the Dortmund attack is how much their goals have been shared around, so much so that no Dortmund player ranks in the top five for Goals, xG or Shots (see below). Excluding own goals, the 53 goals scored by their players have come from 16 different sources, with Bayern’s 71 coming from 15.
Close behind Dortmund for Goals, xG and Shots per 90 are RB Leipzig, who additionally place fourth for Key passes per 90. Despite scoring at a lower rate than in the last campaign (perhaps due to often missing key man Christopher Nkunku), they have also been strong defensively (below), and their underlying stats, therefore, indicate that they should be faring better than their current 5th-placed position.
Another team whose table position is not well represented by their underlying stats is VFB Stuttgart — very strongly, in this case! Sitting at the bottom of the table, they are a surprise entry in the top fives for both Shots-per-90 and Key passes-per-90. From an attacking perspective, this has not been helped by their xG underperformance of -2.8, for which they have only performed better than fellow low-placed teams Hoffenheim and Schalke in this sense (-3.5 and -7.1, respectively).
Bayer Leverkusen are the only other team that appears in all four top fives. Goal threat has not been an issue for Die Werkself this season, but a poor start sees them sitting in an unfamiliar mid-table position going into the final nine games. However, there are positive signs under new boss Xabi Alonso, with them now being on a five-game win streak in all competitions that includes a 2-1 victory over Bayern in the last league game.
Defensive
Clean sheets
- Freiburg, Wolfsburg | 10
- Borussia Dortmund, Union Berlin | 9
- Bayern Munich | 8
- RB Leipzig, Schalke | 7
- Mainz 05 | 6
Goals conceded
- Bayern Munich | 27
- Union Berlin | 28
- RB Leipzig | 30
- Borussia Dortmund | 31
- Wolfsburg | 32
Best xGA (xGA – GC)
- RB Leipzig | 27.2 (-2.8)
- Bayern Munich | 27.3 (+0.3)
- Union Berlin | 28.8 (+0.8)
- Eintracht Frankfurt | 31.4 (-4.6)
- VFB Stuttgart | 32.0 (-10.0)
In seasons past, you would typically expect to see Bayern Munich topping each of these three lists, but the reigning champions only claim the top spot for Goals conceded during the current campaign. While they have conceded the fewest goals, four teams have managed more clean sheets, with them being susceptible to annoying, clean-sheet-ruining goals — they have conceded just once in nine different Bundesliga games this season.
The situation is similar for RB Leipzig, who have shared this love for conceding a lone goal. They have done so in 10 league games this term, which includes a streak of six consecutive games! Die, Roten Bullen, boast the best xGA in the division and have conceded the third-fewest goals in the league, but are still only level on clean sheets with Schalke. Interestingly, five of the latter’s seven clean sheets came from MD18 onwards, following a change in goalkeeper from Alexander Schwolow (4.5M) to Ralf Fährmann (2.6M), with Fährmann managing an impressive 8.5 points per game during this period.
Considering just clean sheets, it initially appears that Freiburg and Wolfsburg have continued their strong defensive form from the previous season. However, the two only rank 9th and 10th respectively in terms of xGA, and Wolfsburg’s inclusion in the top five for Goals conceded is due to the highest xGA overperformance in the league (+2.9). While Wolfsburg had a middle-of-the-road rank for Goals conceded and xGA in 2021/22, Freiburg finished last season 5th and 6th respectively for these two stats, so there is evidence for a decline in their defensive capabilities.
Union Berlin, on the other hand, have managed to maintain their impressive defensive stats from last season. They are performing more or less on track with their promising xGA, ranking 2nd and 3rd for Goals conceded and xGA, respectively, and with only the two previous teams having managed more clean sheets. Their consistent solidity has been helped by new number-one keeper Frederik Rønnow (7.2M), who ranks highest in the league for save percentage (82.6%) and post-shot xG prevented (+6.8). Borussia Dortmund also owe a lot this season to their starting keeper, Gregor Kobel (11.1M), who ranks 3rd for both these statistics (76.8% and +3.3; behind Rønnow and Manuel Neuer). They rank just 7th for xGA but have the second-highest overperformance (+1.2), helping them to nine clean sheets and 4th in the Goals conceded rankings.
Finally, to add to VFB Stuttgart’s xG underperformance woes, they have also performed significantly worse than expected in terms of goals conceded. They rank 5th for xGA but only 10th for Goals conceded, conceding a whopping 10 goals more than expected — only Köln’s -11.6 xGA underperformance ranks worse. If they start to perform in line with their underlying stats, they should be able to survive relegation and a “What could have been” season.
Most goals conceded
- Bochum | 56
- Werder Bremen, Hertha Berlin | 48
- Augsburg, Hoffenheim, Schalke | 45
Worst xGA (xGA – GC)
- Bochum | 47.3 (-8.7)
- Augsburg | 42.0 (-3.0)
- Werder Bremen | 40.2 (-7.8)
- Hertha Berlin | 39.6 (-8.4)
- Borussia Mönchengladbach | 37.5 (-6.5)
Before moving on to focus on players, we take a quick look at the teams who rate worst defensively and have hence been good to target. Bochum have been this season’s poorest performers, ranking worst for xGA and conceding a whopping 56 goals; a rate of 2.24 per game. There is little surprise amongst the other teams, with fellow relegation contenders Hoffenheim and Hertha Berlin amongst the teams with the most xGA and Goals conceded and Schalke amongst the worst for Goals conceded. Werder Bremen have been saved from poor defensive stats by their goal-scoring ability, with Die Werderaner managing to outscore even 3rd- and 4th-placed Union Berlin and Freiburg. Similar is true for Borussia Mönchengladbach, who rank 5th-worst for xGA but 5th and 7th best for xG and goals scored.
Fantasy Bundesliga Player Stats
Goal Threat
Goals
- Niclas Füllkrug (SVW) | 15
- Vincenzo Grifo (SCF), Christopher Nkunku (RBL), Marcus Thuram (BMG) | 12
- Jamal Musiala (FCB), Randal Kolo Muani (SGE) | 11
- Dodi Lukébakio (BSC), Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting (FCB) | 10
- Serge Gnabry (FCB), Karim Onisiwo (M05) | 9
xG (G – xG)
- Marcus Thuram (BMG) – 13.2 (-1.2)
- Niclas Füllkrug (SVW) – 11.8 (+3.2)
- Christopher Nkunku (RBL) – 9.5 (+2.5)
- Andrej Kramaric (TSG), Randal Kolo Muani (SGE) – 8.9 (-1.9, +2.1)
- André Silva (RBL), Michael Gregoritsch (SCF) – 8.6 (-4.6, -0.6)
Shots
- Marcus Thuram (BMG) – 76
- Niclas Füllkrug (SVW) – 70
- Marvin Ducksch (SVW) – 63
- Leroy Sané (FCB) – 62
- Serge Gnabry (FCB) – 59
There has been a big change this year in Bundesliga Fantasy (arguably a positive one), with two of the best assets in the game leaving the league. Robert Lewandowski and Erling Haaland’s dominance at the top of the points and goal threat standings is no more, leaving a vacuum to be filled.
To the surprise of many, step up Niclas Füllkrug (FOR, 9.7M)! He has been the main man for newly promoted side Werder Bremen this season, having a hand in 20 of their 39 goals (a 51% goal involvement) and playing a key role in helping them to their current mid-table position. As well as being top of the goal-scoring charts and second for both xG and Shots, he is also in the top five for Duels won, giving him a further useful route to points. These things combined have led Füllkrug to be the top points Bundesliga Fantasy points scorer at the time of writing, and have even earned him a first call-up for the German national team. With a game against a struggling Hoffenheim up next, he should be strongly considered for our teams.
Also in the top two for each of the listed goal threat statistics is Marcus Thuram (FOR, 14.3M). The Foals forward has actually accrued a higher xG and taken more shots than Füllkrug but has underperformed where the latter has overperformed, leaving him joint second in the Goals rankings. While players like Vincenzo Grifo (MID, 17.1M) owe a lot of their goals to penalties (50% in his case), it is interesting to note that Thuram has achieved this without them, and he is the league leader for non-penalty goals. The opportunities are coming, and with a chance creating force like Jonas Hofmann on the side (see below), they should keep doing so. He faces out of form Köln in MD26 (4L, 1D in their last five), has a fairly low ownership of 12% in Bundesliga Fantasy and managed a goal and 14 points last Matchday, so this could be a great time to punt on him.
Despite injuries causing him to feature in only 18 games this season (15 starts), Christopher Nkunku (MID, 17.5M) still ranks 3rd for xG and joint-second for goals scored. His xG per 90 of 0.61 is the highest in the league, making him pretty much essential to own when fit. A similar argument can be made for Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting (FCB, 5.9M), who tops the list for Goals per 90, scoring 10 goals in just 17 appearances (13 starts). Being able to own a starting Bayern striker who is scoring at this rate and costing just 5.9M is a bit of a cheat code, so we need to keep our fingers crossed that he stays fit and keeps his place under Thomas Tuchel!
Three more Bayern forwards are found in the above lists. Jamal Musiala (FOR, 16.1M) has been having an outstanding season so far, performing at such a high level that he has now asserted himself as one of Bayern’s key players. His 19 goal involvements in the Bundesliga are the most amongst their players, and he has been the most reliable Bayern forward to own for most of the current season. His 11 goals have come with a significant overperformance of +4.3 relative to his xG, indicative of his form and confidence. Team-mates Serge Gnabry (FOR, 16.4M) and Leroy Sané (FOR, 17.4M) are known to be quite trigger-happy when on the pitch, as is evidenced by their placings in the top five of the Shots list. The pair have also been important for Bayern for goal contributions this season, with Gnabry ranking 2nd (9 goals, 4 assists) and Sané ranking joint 4th (7 goals, 4 assists). However, with only 15 starts each, it was hard to determine which to pick in Bundesliga Fantasy and when under Nagelsmann, and Musiala and Choupo-Moting have typically been safer options.
Finally, another player who is having a very impressive season is Randal Kolo Muani (FOR, 14.7M). He is the only player that has managed over 20 goal involvements during the current campaign, contributing 11 goals and 10 assists. His form earned him a starting spot as France’s No. 9 for their 4-0 win over the Netherlands, which even drew compliments from Kylian Mbappé. He has been a reliable Bundesliga Fantasy asset for most of the season, and with a standalone fixture against leaky Bochum this Friday night, he is a top option for the current Matchday and beyond.
A special mention here for surprise inclusion among the top goalscorers Dodi Lukébakio (FOR, 9M), who has managed 10 goals from just 6.4 xG (+3.6 overperformance). On the flip side, André Silva (FOR, 14.4M) has significantly underperformed, only managing 4 goals from an xG of 8.6, one of the highest xG tallies in the league (-4.6 underperformance).
Chance Creation
Assists
- Randal Kolo Muani (SGE) – 10
- Raphael Guerreiro (BVB) – 9
- Jonas Hofmann (BMG), Jamal Musiala (FCB), Dominik Szoboszlai (RBL), Alassane Pléa (BMG) – 8
- Mitchell Weiser (SVW), Thomas Müller (FCB) – 7
- Christopher Antwi-Adjei (BOC), Jeremie Frimpong (B04), Lars Stindl (BMG), Florian Kainz (KOE), Borna Sosa (VFB), Patrick Wimmer (WOB) – 6
xAG (A – xAG)
- Jonas Hofmann (BMG) – 9.1 (-1.1)
- Dominik Szoboszlai (RBL) – 6.7 (+1.3)
- Julian Brandt (BVB) – 6.4 (-2.4)
- Florian Kainz (KOE) – 5.9 (+0.1)
- Moussa Diaby (B04) – 5.3 (-1.3)
Key passes
- Jonas Hofmann (BMG) – 75
- Julian Brandt (BVB) – 54
- Joshua Kimmich (FCB), Dominik Szoboszlai (RBL) – 52
- Kevin Stöger (BOC) – 50
- Christian Günter (SCF) – 47
As Lewandowski was in a league of his own last season in terms of goal threat, Jonas Hofmann (MID, 17M) has been a standout this season in terms of chance creation. The Foals midfielder leads the xAG and Key passes charts by a significant margin, accruing an xAG of 9.1 and notching a huge 75 key passes, 2.4 and 21 more than the next highest players, respectively. He has already exceeded his tallies from last year with nine games still to go, and he is well on track to beat the highest key pass total from last season (87, set by Bundesliga Fantasy legend Filip Kostić). With eight goals to add to his high assist threat, the top midfield points scorer (and third highest overall) is hard to go without.
With Nkunku facing injury issues, more of the responsibility for RB Leipzig’s attacking play has been passed to Dominik Szoboszlai (MID, 16.3M). The Hungarian has been the key creator for Die Roten Bullen and ranks 2nd in the league for xAG and joint 3rd for both Assists and Key passes. With a more secure spot in the team this season, he is just three points shy of his tally for the previous season and is currently 3rd in the Bundesliga Fantasy midfielder rankings.
Another player who has thrived with increased responsibility is Julian Brandt (MID, 15.5M), who took on an increased role in Dortmund’s attack while Marco Reus (MID, 16.2M) missed a good chunk of games, including some set-piece responsibilities. Brandt’s form has been crucial to Dortmund’s success this season, and his 54 key passes and 6.4 xAG rank 2nd and 3rd in the league, respectively — he has been unlucky to come away with just four assists to his name. He is also Dortmund’s current top scorer, with eight goals. Sadly, he picked up an injury just after Reus recovered, and he is a doubt for MD26.
Randal Kolo Muani’s (FOR, 14.7M) impressive season includes being the league’s current assist leader, but Raphaël Guerreiro (DEF, 13.8M) is hot on his tail. Since his recent move into a midfield role, Guerreiro has been a Bundesliga Fantasy dream, picking up two goals, three assists and 50 points, all while being classed as a defender in the game. As an out-of-position defender performing in this way, he is pretty much a must-have at the moment.
Shots Saved
Arguably the most crucial statistic for Fantasy Bundesliga goalkeepers is shots saved. Listed below are the top shot-stoppers in the league over the course of the season so far. Their points earned through saves are listed in brackets (goalkeepers gain 3 pts per 2 shots kept, but there are mismatches due to individual game totals).
- Manuel Riemann (BOC) | 105 (138 pts)
- Rafał Gikiewicz (FCA) | 92 (117 pts)
- Mark Flekken (SCF) | 85 (102 pts)
- Oliver Baumann (TSG) | 84 (108 pts)
- Lukáš Hrádecky (B04), Jiri Pavlenka (SVW) | 80 (105 pts, 99 pts)
The top shot-stopper so far this season has been Manuel Riemann (7.7M; on sale). However, with his 68.4% save percentage only ranking 10th best, this is mainly due to the sheer number of shots he has faced — a league-high 155. This is a recurring theme for the above list, with Augsburg, Werder Bremen and Hoffenheim also amongst the teams with the most shots on target conceded, and Rafał Gikiewicz (7.3M), Jiri Pavlenka (5.6M) and Oliver Baumann (7.8M) all appearing near the top of the Shots saved list. A large number of negative points, primarily from goals conceded, means that Manuel Riemann’s heroics only place him joint 3rd in the goalkeeper standings, where he is tied with here 2nd-placed Rafał Gikiewicz.
While picking goalkeepers from the lower-placed teams is a valid tactic, it is a high-risk, high-reward game, and it is typically those from stronger defensive teams that end up higher in the standings. A Bundesliga Fantasy favourite from last season, Mark Flekken (11.5M) is a prime example of this. While he has faced fewer shots than the aforementioned goalkeepers, his higher save percentage places him 3rd overall for shots saved. Playing in a more solid defence, reduced negative points and more clean sheet points place him 2nd in the overall standings behind Koen Casteels (11.5M), who pips him to the top spot only thanks to two assists! While players like Flekken may be safer choices, they are often expensive, and with two keeper spots to play with, going for the higher haul potential of cheaper options like Riemann or Gikiewicz is often more rewarding.
Duels Won
Finally, let’s take another look at the current Duels Won leaderboard from the Official Bundesliga website. The total points they have gained from these exploits are included in brackets, which take into account their in-game positions (note that these are aggregated points from the individual games, so they may mismatch the total duels won).
- Jude Bellingham (BVB) | 380 (66 pts)
- Kouadio Koné (BMG) | 353 (61 pts)
- Philipp Hofmann (BOC) | 352 (59 pts)
- Niclas Füllkrug (SVW) | 321 (56 pts)
- Jonas Hector (KOE) | 317 (108 pts)
Dortmund star Jude Bellingham (MID, 16.3M) has a healthy lead as the top duel-winner in the league, showing his importance as a key cog in the BVB machine. Gladbach defensive midfielder Kouadio Koné (11.3M) places second, followed by forwards Philipp Hofmann (FOR, 6.1M) and Niclas Füllkrug (FOR, 9.7M), the latter exhibiting the all-round points potential that has helped him to the top of the Bundesliga Fantasy points standings. Köln captain Jonas Hector (DEF, 10.6M) is the only defender in the top five for duels won (also within the top 10). However, his huge 108 points earned from these duels display their importance as a source of points for defenders in the game — these represent exactly 50% of the points he has earned this season (not considering minus points).
In summary
Despite both losing talismanic strikers, Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund have still managed to produce the best attacking stats in the league during the current season. RB Leipzig have been among the top performers for both attacking and defensive stats (including the best xGA in the league), and are unfortunate not to be placed higher than their current 5th position. Bayer Leverkusen also continue to be a strong attacking side, and they are the only other team appearing in each of the top fives for Goals, xG, Key passes per 90 and Shots per 90.
From a defensive perspective, Bayern Munich, RB Leipzig and Union Berlin have been the top performers so far. Scoring much fewer than the former two teams, a large part of Union’s success this season has been built on their strong defence, and there is little surprise to find them in the top three for Clean sheets, Goals conceded and xGA. While Freiburg and Wolfsburg have kept the most clean sheets, they have been a little lucky to do so, with both teams ranking mid-table for xGA. Unsurprisingly, most of the bottom half sides rank poorest defensively, with Bochum and Augsburg being particularly good to target as the two worst teams in the league for xGA. As a consequence of the sheer shot volume faced, their goalkeepers Manuel Riemann and Rafał Gikiewicz rank highest for Shots saved, but they are beaten to the top of the goalkeeper standings by players from more stable defences (Mark Flekken and Koen Casteels).
A special mention here for the team with the biggest discrepancy between underlying stats and league position is VFB Stuttgart. Stuttgart rank in the top fives for Shots-per-90, Key passes-per-90 and also, surprisingly, for xGA. However, significant underperformance relative to their xG and xGA values has left them bottom of the table, for the time being.
From a goal-threat perspective, Niclas Füllkrug and Marcus Thuram have emerged to (partly) fill the void left by Robert Lewandowski and Erling Haaland, ranking in the top two for both goals and xG. Füllkrug also places in the top five duel winners for the season so far, exhibiting his potential for this alternative route to points. The attacking threat from both Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund, on the other hand, has been much more diverse in the absence of the two talismans, but Jamal Musiala and Julian Brandt have provided the most goal contributions for their two sides. However, if Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting keeps his place under Tuchel, he will be one of the best value picks in the game.
Jonas Hofmann has been the standout performer in terms of chance creation, holding a healthy lead at the top of the xAG and Key passes charts. Injuries to Christopher Nkunku and Marco Reus have allowed Dominik Szoboszlai and Julian Brandt to thrive in taking on more of the attacking mantle for their teams, with the pair ranking only behind Hofmann for chance creation. Randal Kolo Muani has exhibited his all-round attacking threat, placing in the top fives for Goals and xG while topping the assist chart.
Duels won, shots and shots saved stats taken from the Bundesliga website. Remainder was taken from FB Ref.
You can find additional Fantasy Bundesliga resources for the 22/23 season here.
