Bundesliga Matchday 18: Futmo's Team Of The Week

Goalkeeper

Manuel Riemann has been excellent for VfL Bochum this season and has the fourth most shots saved (71) in the Bundesliga this campaign. With this clean sheet considered, Riemann has kept three clean sheets this Bundesliga season and withheld the Stuttgart attack which had an expected goal (xG) tally of 2.

Defenders

For the defenders this week, the first player simply has to be Mitchell Weiser and with a goal and a clean sheet he was simply excellent against Bayern Munich to get Werder Bremen their first win over Bayern in 16 years. Also, his defensive partner and fourth captain for Bremen Niklas Stark was simply superb once again and following his man of the match performance against Bochum last weekend, he managed to calm the storm against Bayern Munich and his experience helped get Bremen over the line.

‍

Similarly, Ian Maatsen's second game for Borussia Dortmund was another standout performance. The player, who signed in January on loan from Chelsea, has blossomed at Dortmund and looks like a great signing for the club. An assist and a 93% pass accuracy from Maatsen helped "die Schwarzgelben" get back-to-back victories. Lastly, his partner Nico Schlotterbeck showed a much-improved quality against 1. FC Köln and was uniquely composed and mostly error-free to secure the sometimes nervous Dortmund defence and get a clean-sheet.

‍

Midfielders

Next, the first midfielder to focus on will be Patrick Osterhage who won two aerial duels and completed three tackles throughout the game against Stuttgart. As well as this, he was the heartbeat of Bochum's midfield to win a tightly-contested midfield duel.

Also, Augsburg's Arne Engels provided a goal and two duels won for a narrow 2-1 win against Borussia Mönchengladbach. The twenty-year-old has a lot of room to grow and develop into one of the Bundesliga's biggest midfield prospects.

‍

Attackers

To begin with, the attacker that will be drawn upon is Vincenzo Grifo as he provided a man of the match performance with a goal and an assist in a 3-2 close win over Hoffenheim. As well as this, his 90% pass accuracy helped to provide much-needed attacking directness for Freiburg.

Álex Grimaldo also had an excellent game for Bayer Leverkusen and although he is a left-back by trait, Futmo has decided to put the player in this squad as a winger due to how high up the pitch the player plays and has also featured as a winger beforehand. Two assists helped Bayer Leverkusen to squash any doubts over Bayer's title challenge this season and create a seven-point gap at the top of the table.

‍

Continuing the theme of superb attacking performances, Donyell Malen provided two goals for Borussia Dortmund in a 4-0 thrashing of 1. FC Köln to move the team within touching distance of top four. The player, who scored earlier in the season against Köln, has a real knack for scoring against the Billy Goats.

‍

Finally, Lucas Höler is the last attacker and with his four shots and four aerial duels won as well as a crucial goal, it is clear to see that the twenty-nine-year-old deserves a place in this team.

‍

Full XI