BERLIN: Bayern Munich striker Harry Kane will hope to overcome a slump in front of goal when his side travel to face Freiburg on Saturday.
With 16 goals in 16 games this season, Kane still tops the Bundesliga goalscoring charts, but the numbers bely a trend which may worry the league leaders.
Kane has not scored from open play since November, a run of seven games in all competitions, although the England captain’s remarkable reliability from the spot has glossed over the dip in form.
He has scored two penalties in that time, extending his tally to 27 consecutive spot-kicks converted for club and country dating back to his 2022 World Cup quarter-final miss against France.
In Wednesday’s 3-0 Champions League loss at Feyenoord, Kane and Bayern were dominant with the ball but were unable to convert a number of chances.
The 31-year-old missed four games in December with a hamstring strain and is clearly not yet back to 100 percent.
“Of course we need his goals,“ Bayern’s sporting director Max Eberl said of Kane.
“He hasn’t scored but he knows that and is probably more critical of himself than anyone else.
“He’s experienced many highs and a few lows. If there’s anyone who can handle a dip, it’s Harry Kane.”
Freiburg coach Julian Schuster said Thursday his side will be facing a Bayern side stung by defeat.
“When a team loses, there’s automatically a bit of extra spice next time around. And we all know what it means when Bayern suffer a loss.”
In his first season in charge, Schuster has his side sitting eighth. Freiburg are particularly strong in their Black Forest home, where they have lost just once in nine games.
Schuster said Bayern’s midweek loss shows it is possible “to find gaps and to hurt them”.
Leverkusen head to RB Leipzig on Saturday, knowing they could close the gap at the top to just one point if they win and Bayern lose.
Xabi Alonso’s defending champions had their own midweek setback, losing 2-1 at Atletico Madrid despite taking the lead in Spain.
Leipzig are 10 points behind Leverkusen but remain the only side to have beaten them in the league since May 2023, winning 3-2 away in August.
Leipzig defender David Raum says Leverkusen are “another calibre” of team but promised “to make it as difficult as possible for them”.
Dortmund’s 2-1 Champions League loss at Bologna on Tuesday was followed a day later by the sacking of coach Nuri Sahin.
Mike Tullberg, Sahin’s interim replacement, will be on the sidelines in Saturday’s home clash with Werder Bremen tasked with getting Dortmund back to winning ways.
Last season’s Champions League finalists sit 10th in the league and have won just one of their past nine games in all competitions.
One to watch: Patrik Schick
While Kane may be struggling for his best level, the same cannot be said of Bayer Leverkusen frontman Patrik Schick.
The Czech striker has scored 12 goals in his past eight games — none of which have come from the penalty spot.
Schick’s form means Leverkusen have not missed the injured Victor Boniface, who looks set to return to the squad this weekend.
The 28-year-old Schick spent the 2019-20 season on loan at Leipzig, netting 10 goals in 28 games, but he has never scored against his former employers.
Key stats
5 – Benjamin Sesko has scored in his past five league games
8 – Bayer Leverkusen have won their last eight league games
16th – Borussia Dortmund have won just one and lost six of their nine away games this season, the third-worst away record in the Bundesliga
Fixtures (1430 GMT unless stated)
Friday
Wolfsburg v Holstein Kiel (1930)
Saturday
Mainz v Stuttgart, RB Leipzig v Bayer Leverkusen, Augsburg v Heidenheim, Freiburg v Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund v Werder Bremen, Borussia Moenchengladbach v Bochum (1730)
Sunday
Hoffenheim v Eintracht Frankfurt, St Pauli v Union Berlin (1630)
