Well it’s a case of anything you can do, we can do better almost as well. After Bayern’s recent goal glut of 13 goals in two league games, Dortmund showed that they too are pretty handy in front of goal. A 6-1 win away at Cologne (13th) saw Dortmund keep the gap at 5 points, despite the hosts having the temerity to go ahead. Lewandowski (11.47) was once again on the score sheet, along with Japanese midfielder Shinji Kagawa (10.36), who scored a brace. This took his tally for the season to 11 in 24 league games, and 19 in his 42 Bundesliga games since joining from the J-League. Aged only 23, he’s catching the eye of several big(ger) clubs.
Bayern had temporarily closed the gap to 2 points on Saturday, after a 2-1 home win against 7th placed Hannover. Goals from Toni Kroos and Mario Gomez’s 23rd of the season were enough to take the points. Gomez still hasn’t scored against Top 6 Opposition this season, but this goal against 7th place brought up his average opposition per goal to 11.91.
Whilst Gomez is struggling to make an impact against the Top 6 teams, his rival for the golden boot Klaas Jan Huntelaar did deliver. Schalke beat 5th placed Leverkusen 2-0 with both goals from the Dutch striker. This takes his tally against the Top 6 teams to 4, though he’s still got a very low average opposition score of 12.23. The goals inspired Schalke to their 3rd successive win, a run which has seen them leapfrog Borussia Monchengladbach into 3rd place. Marco Reus was on the scoresheet in a surprise 2-1 home defeat by Hoffenheim (12th). Although it decreased his average opposition rating to 5.80, it’s still comfortably the highest in the league, making him the big game player.
Holding onto the Flat track bully tag for another week is Stuttgart’s Martin Harnik. His 8 goals against the bottom ranked teams contribute to his 14.29 rating, and makes him second only to Huntelaar in goals against the Bottom 6 teams, but with only one goal against the Top 6.
Papa Demba Cisse’s goals have been missed by Freiburg since he moved to Newcastle in the transfer window, and although he’s still the team’s top scorer (as above), they’ve managed to turn form around and have picked up 10 points from the last four games. This has seen them rise like Lazarus from dead and buried (was he buried? I’m not sure) at the bottom of the table to the heady heights of 13th place.
Last time out we looked at the clean sheet stats by team, so this time out we’ll look at goals scored by team:
Bayern’s recent trip down the goal trail means they lead Schalke in the goals scored list, but it’s Monchengladbach’s efforts against the Top 6 opponents that really catch the eye. Inspired by the talismanic Marco Reus, they’ve scored over half of their 40 goals against the league’s top teams. That’s both impressive and telling – they’ve only scored 4 goals against the stragglers at the bottom of the league. When looking a little deeper, they’ve actually been victims of the fixture list, with their goals scored against an average ranked opponent of 7th place. That’s by far and away the highest in the league, meaning that they have been playing teams in form. To be 4th in the league after such a tough run is a decent achievement, and with an 11 point gap to 5th, they’re pretty much nailed on for a qualifying place in next season’s Champions League.
Aside from the top teams, Kaiserlautern’s 17 goals show why they’re bottom of the table. They also have the least number of goals against the Top 6 teams. Leverkusen have the lowest ranked opponent per goal, whilst Schalke’s 25 against the relegation fighters has aided their ascent into 3rd.
Cheers,
Liam
average opposition .com 
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