The 2018-19 Bundesliga season is about to run down the final stretch. The title race is very close, and with the striker from the top two teams in fine form, the Der Klassiker will be ever more important.



Hot:

Paco Alcácer, 25, Borussia Dortmund



Borussia Dortmund’s 25-year-old striker, Paco Alcácer, has been on fire this season. He has played 21 games and has 16 goals, with 12 of the games played being substitute appearances and many of the goals being game winning and/or past the 90th minute. More recently, he has four goals in the past four games, including a man-of-the-match award.



Alongside young English star Jadon Sancho and German star Marco Reus, Paco Alcácer has been in the headlines a lot. Beginning as a loan, Alcácer joined Dortmund at the beginning of the season from Spanish giants, FC Barcelona, and due to his fine form with Dortmund — the move was made permanent. On 18 December 2018, Alcácer scored his 10th goal from the bench on the season in a 2–1 away loss to Fortuna Düsseldorf, and in doing so, set a new Bundesliga record for the most goals scored in a single campaign by a substitute.



He also set a new Bundesliga record by getting his eighth league goal in 218 minutes on the pitch. The previous landmark had been set by Hamburg’s Charly Dörfel in 1963, who reached the same tally in 519 minutes during the league’s inaugural season. I think it is safe to say Alcácer has been efficient.



Not only is he scoring these goals with little time on the pitch as a substitute, he now also holds the record for goals later than the 90th minute, with five goals for the club this season past that point. Not all of these were game winners, but he does have five game-winning goals for the club already as well.



Paco Alcácer is known for his short passing, quick movements and clinical finishing. If you can find his head in the box he will put it in the back of the net majority of the time. Otherwise, his teammates look to connect and play one or two touch passes around the defense at the top of the box until he finds and opening to shoot. The Spaniard is averaging 2.2 shots per game, with 10.9 passes at a 75 percent success rate per game. Comparing these numbers with how many goals he has, it is clear he is efficient when given a chance to score.



Thanks to Alcácer, Dortmund sit atop the table, two points ahead of rivals Bayern Munich. With their next match being against the rivals, they have the opportunity to widen the gap. If Paco continues to do what he does best and score goals —Dortmund will have a really good chance at taking the title home this season.



Paco Alcacer’s late match-winning brace means he has 16 league goals,having played just 963 mins



That’s an incredible goal every 60 mins. To put that in perspective, Mbappé has a league goal every 71 mins, Messi- 74 mins, Neymar- 86 mins, CR7- 118 mins



Unreal from the Spaniard. pic.twitter.com/0b07M5ceuz — Premier League Panel (@PremLeaguePanel) March 30, 2019

Robert Lewandowski, 30, Bayern Munich



Robert Lewandowski and Bayern Munich did not start the season in the form they were hoping for, but have picked it up more recently. The 30-year-old Polish striker has been leading the charge back to the top of the league for Bayern Munich. In 26 league appearances this season, Lewandowski has 19 goals and seven assists. More recently, he has six goals in the past four league games, including two man-of-the-match awards.



The six foot forward is a complete forward. He has natural talent to finish the ball, he is not scared to stick his head in dangerous places to score, and he has dribbling and passing ability. In the league this season he averages about 4.3 shots per game. This is higher than his average of 3.7 shots per game in all competitions. He also has a 78.4 percent pass success rating, averaging about 22.4 passes per game. He plays a very good 1.5 key passes per game, which is higher than most other forwards. He completes 1.3 dribbles per game as well, so he is capable of beating defenders on his own.



Using his ability, he has helped Bayern Munich back into second place, just two points off of league leaders Borussia Dortmund. This weekend, Lewandowski will likely be leading the line against rivals and league leaders Borussia Dortmund in Der Klassiker, also known as the “German Clasico”. The winner of this game will take the first place spot in the league, and be in a good position going into the final few games to secure the title at the end of the season.



If Lewandowski keeps his form up, it will be very difficult to stop him from scoring or assisting in some way during the game. Dortmund have their work cut out for them.



Robert Lewandowski in all competitions this season:



• 38 games

• 33 goals

• 12 assists pic.twitter.com/iIvuVa72vy — Bayern & Die Mannschaft (@eMiaSanMia) April 4, 2019

Tyler Adams, 20, RasenBallsport Leipzig



Since Tyler Adams has started at RB Leipzig, they have been unbeaten. While the 20-year-old American midfielder only has two assists in seven starts and two substitute appearances, his presence for the team is undeniable. Since the beginning of 2019, and with Tyler Adams playing, RB Leipzig has won five games and tied three league games.



Tyler Adams is normally deployed as a center mid or defensive center mid for his club. He is an all-around talented player, who can play in a box to box role. He is good at winning aerial duels, he has great passing and vision so he can play killer through balls as well and he is defensively solid — not afraid to get stuck into tackles and is great at predicting and intercepting passes. He is also not afraid to shoot from distance.



Offensively, he averages about 54 passes a game with a 80.5 percent pass success rate. He often plays long through balls and averages 0.6 key passes per game. He is fouled often, getting fouled more than 1.1 times a game. He completes 1.6 dribbles per game and has 0.2 shots per game. These numbers will get better the more he plays — these numbers are from a smaller sample size of 659 total minutes.



Defensively, he is averaging 2.8 tackles and 1.7 interceptions per game, which is among the better side of defensive midfielders in the league, and is second best for his team for tackles and third best on his team for interceptions, behind only Dayot Upamecano and Ibrahima Konaté, both center backs for Leipzig.



RB Leipzig find themselves in third place in the Bundesliga, nine points behind second place Bayern Munich, and three points ahead of fourth placed Eintracht Frankfurt. If they want to stay in third and keep a champions league spot, they will have to continue picking up points into the final few weeks. Tyler Adams has been a presence defensively as well as offensively, and if his form can continue and he can stay healthy, he will only get better.



Tyler Adams in #RBLBSC:



1 assist

85 touches

67/76 (88%) passes

4/8 long balls

7/9 duels won

3 aerials won

8 recoveries

3 tackles

1 interception

11.39 kM distance covered

26 sprints#RBLeipzig still unbeaten with him in the lineup. #RBNY still struggling without him.#USMNT pic.twitter.com/8vKxx0hhMA — Joga Bonito (@Jasoninho10) March 30, 2019

Heating Up:

Ibrahima Konaté (RB Leipzig, 29 games, 1.9 tackles per game, 2 interceptions per game, 3.9 clearances per game)

Filip Kostic (Eintracht Frankfurt, 10 games, 5 goals, 4 assists, 3 man-of-the-match)

Kevin Trapp (Eintracht Frankfurt, 7 games, 6 clean sheets, 2 goals against, 6 wins, 1 draw)

Not:

Thorgan Hazard, 26, Borussia Mönchengladbach



Despite being Borussia Mönchengladbach’s top performer this season, Thorgan Hazard has not been performing to the standard he set at the beginning of the season. He started the season with nine goals and six assists up until the winter break. Since returning to play in 2019, Hazard has no goals and only three assists. Due to the decrease in attack, his team has two wins, four losses and two draws in the last eight games.



At the beginning of the seasons, Hazard’s strengths were similar to his brother — Eden Hazard. Thorgan Hazard was excellent at crossing, finishing, passing, through balls and cutting inside from the wing to finish. Lately, his numbers have been less than his season averages.



Over the whole season, Hazard was averaging 79.1 percent pass success rate with an average of 31.8 passes per game, with 2.1 shots on goal per game, and 2.2 key passes per game; however, in the past five games, he is averaging a higher pass success rate of 80.9 percent, but lower total passes at 26.2 passes per game, he is only averaging 1.8 key passes per game and only 1.4 shots per game. His involvement in the play seems to be declining over the past few games.



Gladbach find themselves in fifth place right now, two points behind a champions league spot if they were to finish in fourth place and five points ahead of a seven place finish, which would cause them to potentially lose their Europa League spot. If Hazard does not pick up his offensive productivity, they are likely to miss out on Champions League and potentially miss out on Europa League as well. He has had a good season overall with potential buyers from larger teams in other countries, but if no one picks him up, he will still want to play in a European competition next season.



Borussia Mönchengladbach head coach Dieter Hecking on taking Thorgan Hazard off at half time: "I could have replaced everyone in the first half. A few things annoyed me about Thorgan's performance. I will discuss that with him internally." (Funke Sport) — Get German Football News (@GGFN_) March 31, 2019

Bobby Wood, 26, Hannover 96 (loan from Hamburger SV)



Hannover 96 striker Bobby Wood has been less than stellar this season. With three goals and one assist over 20 league appearances, and no offensive output in the ten most recent games, Bobby Wood has not been so hot. His team currently sits last in the Bundesliga, and with little games remaining — he may find himself in the second tier of Germany very soon.



Hannover 96’s American striker, Bobby Wood, has been very inconsistent in his career. At other teams over the seasons such as in 2010-2013 he scored 12 goals in 46 appearances, then had three goals in 50 appearances from 2011-2015. In 2015-2016 he had 31 games and 17 goals. In 2016-2017 he had 50 appearances and seven goals and since 2018-present he has 17 games and three goals. He is very up and down, and he is having a down year. In between all of the time periods are him transferring teams as well, so he hasn’t cemented a place in any club he has been at for more than a couple seasons.



On the offensive side of the ball, he is not producing much. He is averaging less than a shot per game at 0.9 shots per game average. He only completes 0.3 dribbles per game and plays 0.6 key passes per game, whereas he is dispossessed 2.9 times per game. He is not really involved in play either, only attempting 14.4 passes per game with a 78.7 percent pass completion rate.



Defensively, he is not contributing either. Averaging 0.7 tackles and 0.2 interceptions per game, he is not winning the ball often from defenders. He commits almost a foul per game. He has played 1186 minutes this season.



With such low involvement in the play, Hannover 96 may want to consider trying other options up top until Wood can find some form. He has proven in the past that he can score, but shows that he is inconsistent. He has also fallen off the depth chart for the United States, with Jozy Altidore and Gyasi Zardes looking like Gregg Berhalter’s top two choices moving forward.



Hannover are in some trouble this season, and it may be too late to save them. They are 11 points off of safety, and with so few games remaining, they have a better chance at trying to make up the six point difference to make it to the relegation playoff spot so they can fight for the chance to stay in the league instead of being automatically relegated. Bobby Wood can help the team — he has shown in the past that he is capable of scoring. He just needs help from his teammates and needs to be more involved on either side of the ball to make an impact. If he is not finding the back of the net, he should be pressuring the defense and dropping deeper to help his team defend. Until then, Hannover 96 will be fighting to keep their status in the Bundesliga.



Source: Hamburg looking for long term loan option for Bobby Wood as Hannover will not purchase him this summer. Options include Bundesliga 2 sides, Austrian first division. MLS not in play at the moment. — MLS Transfers (@MLSTransfers) April 3, 2019

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