Joel Richards 

The Bundesliga is back on beIN SPORTS. Follow all the action over the weekend on beIN CONNECT & HD 11. 

If it wasn’t already exciting enough that football was returning, the fact it is the Bundesliga that first back gives fans an opportunity to marvel over the talents of some of the world’s best players.

Not only is there an array of outstanding talent, but the numbers behind their feats this season should whet the appetite at what can be expected when they return to action this weekend.

Race for the Golden Boot

The easiest place to begin is with the fight for supremacy as the Bundesliga’s most prolific goal-getter this season, and one man’s mission to break more records.

Having begun the campaign with an astonishing 16 goals from his first 11 games, Robert Lewandowski became the first player ever to score in 11 consecutive Bundesliga appearances in the process. Since then, the Bayern Munich striker has gone on to net an incredible 25 goals from 23 games. 

The bad news for opposition defenders is Lewandowski is now fully fit and raring to go after a knee injury prior to the suspension ruled the Pole out for 4 weeks. Union Berlin have been warned.

A four-time Torjägerkanone winner, Lewandowski faces competition from the equally fantastic form of Timo Werner. The RB Leipzig forward’s 21 goals from 25 appearances has him well-positioned to challenge his Bayern counterpart during the campaign’s climax.

While it may be a little late to challenge, special mention goes to Erling Haaland who has already scored nine goals from just eight appearances (five starts) for Borussia Dortmund, scoring a goal every 57 minutes.

Assist Kings

In terms of goal providers, it is another Bayern man that tops the chart.

Die Roten stalwart Thomas Muller has assisted 16 goals from just 18 starts (25 games overall) and no player has ever had so many assists at this stage of a season since data collection began. Right on Muller’s coattails, however, is Dortmund winger Jadon Sancho who topped the assists chart last season.

The England international has provided 15 assists and his 14 goals saw him become the first player in Europe’s top five leagues to post double figures in both areas this season. A key figurehead for Lucien Favre, Sancho is the perfect all-rounder.