Bayern Munich vs. Union Berlin: AWS Match Facts analysis
The top of the table clash between Bayern Munich and Union Berlin on Sunday (5.30pm CET), will see two of the league's leading teams vie for top spot and, here, bundesliga.com runs the rule over the stats that may well indicate where the game will be won or lost.
Bundesliga Match Facts powered by AWS have been presenting innovative statistics since 2019/20, and there are now 12 stats that dig into fixtures like never before...
The league's most efficient teams
Bayern are not only the league's most proficient team in front of goal - with a whopping 61 strikes from the opening 21 games of the season - but also the most efficient. The defending champions have an xG rating of 47.5 goals - a number they comfortably outstrip due to their finishing efficiency rating of +13.5, which represents the best output in the division.
Watch: This is Union Berlin
As for Union, they may have scored 26 fewer goals than the league leaders, but much of their success has been Die Eisernen's remarkable conversion rate. They rank second in the Bundesliga in finishing efficiency with a score of +13.5 and the rivals' respective top scorers set the tone in this field.
Union's Sheraldo Becker and Bayern's Jamal Musiala boast the Bundesliga's best efficiency scores of +4.3 and the teams go tit-for-tat as you go down the ranks. Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting (+3.1) is Bayern's next best, with Union's goal-getting centre-back Danilho Doekhi - whose four league goals this term have all been headers - coming in just behind (+3.0).
Watch: Jamal Musiala - dribbling in the box
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Set-piece specialists
Typically, Doekhi's biggest threat has come from the big man going up for set-pieces, which have been highly-profitable for Urs Fischer's team this season. Overall, Union's threat from corners is 17 percent above the league average, although that still only ranks them fifth on the list. In comparison, Bayern are one percent back and sit 12th in this category.
When it comes to free-kicks, however, the script is flipped. It's Bayern whose free-kick threat is 26 percent above the league average (third best in the division), while Union are still potent (26 percent) in fifth-place.
Skills: Top speeds, top passers
There's no separating these teams when it comes to their fastest players this term; Becker and Alphonso Davies have both clocked speeds of 36 km/h (22.4mph) and share fourth-spot on the league's list of most quick. When you look across both squads, though, it's Bayern who are the more rapid of the two. While Jamie Leweling is Union's next-fastest (34.4 km/h), Bayern have four players who are faster and Leroy Sane (35.9 km/h) is their next best behind Canadian pace-setter Davies.
Bayern are also better in possession, with their passing efficiency of +248.1 another league best. Their passer-in-chief is Joshua Kimmich (+59.9), while Benjamin Pavard (+30.9) and Thomas Müller (+30.3) round out an all-Bayern top-three across the entire league. Union, on the other hand, have made almost 77 fewer passes than the xPass model calculated as likely. Their best player here is Kevin Behrens (+9.2), who comes in considerably under Bayern's leading trio.
Good under pressure
Bayern again rank highly when it comes to their ability to handle the ball under pressure and it's Musiala who is pressed the most among his teammates at the Säbener Straße. The Germany international has faced 398 pressure situations already, which is almost double that of Becker (201), who is Union's player placed under the greatest scrutiny when on the ball.
When it comes to handling said pressure in possession, Bayern come out on top once more. It's Kimmich and Dayot Upamecano who do so the best, with the pair sharing fourth-place league-wide after solving pressure situations 73 percent of the time. Youngster Josip Stanisic (68 percent) is a surprise name in third for Bayern players and is clear of Union's best problem solver, Rani Khedira (61 percent).
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