ONDREJ DUDA (HERTHA BERLIN)
P5 W3 D1 L1 G5
Hertha Berlin’s blistering start to the season owes much to the prolific form of Duda, who found the net in four of the capital club’s five league encounters in September. An expertly taken brace in the impressive 2-0 victory over 2017/18 runners-up Schalke was followed by goals in successive games against VfL Wolfsburg (2-2) and Borussia Mönchengladbach (4-2), as Pal Dardai’s troops climbed as high as second place in the table. The Old Lady suffered their first defeat of the campaign at SV Werder Bremen on Matchday 6, but Duda helped Hertha bounce back in style, scoring the second goal in a 2-0 triumph over champions Bayern at the Olympiastadion.
P5 W2 D2 L1 G4 A1
Summer signing Plea has taken to Gladbach and the Bundesliga like a duck to water. The Frenchman was directly involved in a goal a game in September, scoring four times and registering one assist. He opened his Bundesliga account for the club in the 1-1 draw with FC Augsburg on Matchday 2, before setting up Patrick Herrmann’s crucial second goal in a 2-1 victory over Schalke. The 25-year-old hasn’t stopped scoring since, netting in consecutive games against Hertha (2-4), Eintracht Frankfurt (3-1) and Wolfsburg (2-2) to fire Borussia into the top four.
P5 W2 D2 L1 G3 A1
Just like his Gladbach teammate, Hazard has roared out of the traps this campaign, playing every minute of the Foals’ five league games last month. After plundering his first goal of the season in the 4-2 defeat in Berlin, the Belgium international registered a goal and an assist in the 3-1 triumph at home to Frankfurt. Another goal followed in the 2-2 draw at Wolfsburg, lifting the 25-year-old onto three goals for the campaign and leaving him on course to beat last season’s league tally of 10. Werner may only have netted twice so far this season, but the Germany international’s brace against Hannover on Matchday 3 could prove crucial come the end of the campaign. After Niclas Füllkrug had cancelled out Yussuf Poulsen’s opener, Werner scored either side of half-time to give Ralf Rangnick’s side a two-goal cushion, with Miiko Albornoz’s secondhalf strike proving nothing more than a consolation. On Matchday 6, the 22-yearold set up Poulsen for Leipzig’s opener in a 2-1 victory at fellow European participants TSG 1899 Hoffenheim.