Best Team Performances, Nov 5: RB Leipzig blow away Mainz
The biggest victory of the Bundesliga season so far came via RB Leipzig at the weekend as they destroyed Mainz 8-0, with Timo Werner contributing to six of the goals with a hat-trick of strikes and three assists. They made a whopping 192 passes into the final third and 730 overall - 88% of which were completed successfully. A lot of their joy came from crosses, too, as they sent 23 into the Mainz penalty area. Although the away side made things very, very easy on the day, Leipzig still worked hard, making 12 tackles, 14 clearances, and 14 interceptions.
Eintracht Frankfurt embarrassed Bayern with a 5-1 win at home on Saturday, and even though they were aided by Jerome Boateng's early dismissal nine minutes in, they were relentless in front of goal, with five different players hitting the back of the net. Despite being a man down, they surrendered the majority of possession to Bayern, but were much more effective than the Bavarians with the ball, recording 17 shots on goal and 15 crosses. Their ability to hit Bayern on the counter was a major factor in the win, as they made more interception (22) than any other team in the Bundesliga this week.
After a dismal start to the new campaign, Hoffenheim are finding their feet under head coach Alfred Schreuder, win the 3-0 win against Paderborn their fourth in a row in the Bundesliga. Control was the name of the game in this fixture, as the hosts carefully picked off the opposition with 947 touches of the ball and 778 passes (both the most in the league for this round). Remarkably, they completed 733 passes for a success rate of 94%. They made 10 clearances and seven interceptions.
Sheffield Utd continue to impress under head coach Chris Wilder, this time following a 3-0 victory at home to Burnley which saw the Blades move up to sixth in the table. With another clean sheet secured, they remain the best defence in the league alongside Leicester, with just eight goals conceded in their opening 11 matches. Against Burnley, they made 137 passes into the final third and had 27 touches inside the Clarets box. At the back, they held the visitors to just six shots on goal, none of which were on target.
Brighton head coach Graham Potter could be a star in the making. After impressing at Swansea, he was brought in to replace Chris Hughton at Brighton with the aim of making them a more attractive team to watch - something which he achieved relatively quickly. It took them a while to get going against promoted Norwich, but substitute Leandro Trossard came on to change the game with a goal and an assist in the second half. It was no less than the hosts deserved, as they had more possession, more passes, and three times as many shots on goal as the Canaries.