3 Goals, 1 Assist: Lewandowski gears up for the Gunners with master class against Stuttgart

Robert Lewandowski continued his excellent form with a hat-trick in a 6-1 demolition of Stuttgart at the weekend, warming himself up for the visit of Arsenal on Wednesday evening.

The Pole scored the winner at the Emirates a fortnight ago and he was again the match-winner for Dortmund as they brushed aside Stuttgart to keep up with Bayern Munich’s pace at the top of the Bundesliga standings.

Lewandowski is the ultimate goal poacher and his goals at the weekend was yet another reminder. His second goal was a quick reaction from Marco Reus‘ back-heel. The ball skipped up into the air and the Polish forward smartly tucked it away. His third was another quick reaction as the ball ricocheted off the woodwork before he swept the ball in for Dortmund’s fifth.

He finished the match with a shot accuracy of 67%, having hit just two of his six shots off target.

Lewandowski also assisted one goal and played a key pass, rounding off a fantastic attacking performance. He is the focal point of an exciting, powerful attack that Arsenal will have to deal with again on Wednesday.

At the Emirates a fortnight ago, Lewandowski was quiet for the main part, but he popped up at either end of the game to grab an assist and a goal to seal all three points for the Germans.

In terms of duels won against Stuttgart, the forward won 47% of his, including 50% of his 12 headed duels. He committed two fouls but completed three of his five attempted take ons.

He was Man of the Match, too, scoring 113 on Squawka’s Performance Score, 46 points ahead of Marco Reus, who also scored for Dortmund.

The Polish front man is extremely dangerous in front of goal. He averages a goal every three shots on target in the Bundesliga this season so Arsenal will need to restrict him as much as possible. It will be difficult to contain Dortmund’s free-flowing, incessant attacks but if they are to return to London victorious, they must diminish any chances on goal that Lewandowski may have.

Against Stuttgart, he rarely entered Dortmund’s own half and spent a lot of time around the opposition’s penalty area. Thus showing how high he presses up. He doesn’t drop deep to collect the ball; Lewandowski remains patient and takes his chance when he gets one. He was clinical on Saturday and has hit top form at the perfect time for Dortmund.

His performance against Arsenal two weeks ago was subdued but his winner at the end swung it on its head. His heat map is similar to the one against Stuttgart at the weekend and his clinical nature was shown perfectly; one chance, one goal – the winner.

Remarkably, he completed 71% of his passes in both matches; 25 out of 35 in each game, playing three key passes at the Emirates compared to his two at the weekend.

If Arsenal stand any chance of winning in the Westfalenstadion, they must keep Lewandowski quiet and restrict any goal scoring chances. He is deadly and on form after his superb hat-trick at the weekend.

Per Mertesacker and Laurent Koscielney dealt well with the considerable combined threat of Daniel Sturridge and Luis Suarez on Saturday. They’ll an equally, if not more, difficult assignment in Dortmund on Wednesday.