Analysis: How Haaland and Lewandowski score their goals

The pair have netted a gob-smacking 251 times in 268 Bundesliga outings for Bayern and Dortmund respectively, an average of 0.93 goals a game between them.

bundesliga.com puts their amazing goalscoring exploits under the microscope to find out just how, when and where they get their goals from.

What kind of goals do they score?

Lewandowski is naturally right-footed, so - as you might expect - the majority of his 208 Bundesliga goals for Bayern have come thanks to his favoured leg: 103, nearly 50 per cent.

The left-footed Haaland favours his natural side still more, netting 34 of his 43 Bundesliga goals with his left foot (79 percent). But he is trying to improve that ratio.

Watch: Haaland's right-footed strike against Schalke

"I've been training my right foot, so it's good to get a goal with that foot," the Norway international said after chipping a rare right-footed goal in the 3-0 derby win over Schalke on Matchday 5 last season.

Surprisingly, though Haaland stands some 3.5 inches taller than Lewandowski at 6'3", it is the Bayern man who finds the net most often with his head: 17 per cent to just 4.6 per cent.

Watch: Lewandowski's hat-trick as Bayern demolish Hertha

"He's perfect," Bayern coach Julian Nagelsmann said of his number 9 after Lewandowski's Matchday 3 hat-trick - including two headers - in the 5-0 demolition of Hertha Berlin. No one is going to argue.

Where do they score from?

Though both men can drop deep and participate in build-up play - and often do - they are essentially penalty-box predators.

Haaland's most fruitful hunting ground is on the left side of the penalty area. He scored 27 times in total last season, 16 of those came from a position to the left of the penalty spot. That's twice as many as from the right side, though one of those was his incredible Revierderby volley in February.

"It was a nice goal," said the 21-year-old, understating it by some distance.

Lewandowski hit an astounding 41 league goals last season, breaking the Bundesliga record the late Gerd Müller had held since 1972.

The 33-year-old former Dortmund man is the focal point of the Bayern attack, and so it is no surprise that 34 of those strikes came from the middle third of the penalty box, most of them from just behind the penalty spot. All but three of the 41 were scored from inside the 18-yard box.

When do they score?

If you're an opposing fan and see Lewandowski strike in the first 15 minutes, you might as well go home, because your day isn't going to end happily.

He's found the net 28 times in the opening quarter-hour of 28 league games for Bayern, and how many times have they lost? Not once, winning all but four. Twelve of those goals have been game-winners. If he scores in added time at the end of the first half - as he has done four times in four matches - Bayern also win every time.

The Bayern man has hit 95 of his 208 Bayern league goals in the opening 45 minutes, 45.7 per cent of his total.

Watch: Erling Haaland makes a Bundesliga debut bang with Borussia Dortmund

Haaland, however, is almost twice as likely to score after the interval - as he did spectacularly on his Bundesliga debut at Augsburg in January 2020 - with 65 per cent (28 goals) coming in the second half.

With defenders having been worn down by his physique and movement, Haaland takes full advantage late on, grabbing 15 goals in the final 15 minutes of 14 league games, 11 of which have ended in Dortmund wins.

What is their strike rate?

The duo's strike rates are nothing short of obscene.

Haaland has 43 goals in 46 Bundesliga appearances giving him an average of 0.934 goals a game. Lewandowski might have been around for much longer, but he matches his young counterpart with virtually the same ratio with 208 goals in 222 league matches for Bayern. With 301 goals in 333 Bundesliga games in his career, Lewandowski's goals-per-game ratio stands at an astonishing 0.9!

When you look at only the games in which they have scored goals, it becomes still more frightening for opposition defenders.

Watch: Lewandowski hits five goals in nine minutes vs. Wolfsburg

Haaland's 43 goals have come in just 24 matches, an average of 1.79 goals a game. Lewandowski's 208 have been tallied in just 138 Bayern outings at 1.5 goals a league game.

In 3,743 minutes on the pitch in the German top flight so far, Haaland averages a goal every 87 minutes. In 18,539 Bundesliga minutes for Bayern, Lewandowski averages a strike every 89 minutes - an out-of-this-world number for a man who has been metronomically lethal since joining the record Bundesliga champions in 2014. And who could forget those five goals in just nine minutes against Wolfsburg that left even Pep Guardiola speechless?

How many games do they win for their club?

Goals win games, which is why these two are probably worth more than their weight in gold. Actually, if you're wondering, a solid gold 81kg/178.5lb Lewandowski at today's rate would cost $4.7m, Haaland at 88kg/194lb would set you back $5.1m, significantly less than their football market values.

They are certainly worth more to their teams on the pitch. Lewandowski has 55 league game-winning goals in his Bayern career, that's 165 Bundesliga points he has brought his team, 30 of which he tallied in his remarkable 2020/21 season.

Watch: Haaland's late winner as Dortmund beat Hoffenheim

Haaland has 11 matchwinners to his name, two of which have come in his three league appearances this season, including the Matchday 3 victory over Hoffenheim. It was a goal that saw him become the youngest player to score 43 Bundesliga goals with only the legendary Uwe Seeler reaching that total in fewer matches (44).