Philipp Lienhart is an Austrian professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for the Bundesliga club Freiburg and the Austria national team. He is playing his sixth season with Freiburg and has become a crucial part of the team’s backline. He scored five goals in the 2021/22 season and had managed to net four in the previous season. In 2022/23 Bundesliga, Lienhart has managed to net one goal so far. He is a master at getting into dangerous areas in the box and winning aerial duels during set pieces. He has scored most of his goals this way. In addition to his goal-scoring ability, he is versatile at the back and can slot into all the positions in the backline. Freiburg are currently in fifth place and have conceded 32 goals, which is the eighth-highest total in the league. The team is looking to grab a spot in the top four and is seven points behind the league leaders. Let’s now look at some of Philipp Lienhart’s stats from the Bundesliga this season.
Overall performance
Lienhart usually plays as a left centre-back, but on rare occasions, he can also slot in as the left-back. The viz above shows the percentile rank of the player’s stats compared to other centre-backs in the Bundesliga in 2022/23. He has played 23 matches and ranks in the top 69.1 percentile for defensive duels won per 90 minutes and in the top 89.7 percentile for shots per 90. Other areas where the player does well include accurate passes per 90. He makes and receives many passes per 90 as Freiburg tends to play out from the back.
Philipp in defence
As a centre-back, Philipp’s defensive gameplay is decent. From the viz above, we can see that his average position along the defensive line is well within his own half. The player makes 11.28 recoveries and 4.73 interceptions per match. Furthermore, he contests 4.1 defensive duels with a win rate of 68%. As for aerial duels, the centre-back contests 3.97 per match with a 58.5% win rate.
The above viz represents the overall high regains made by the Austrian in the Bundesliga 2022/23. It can be seen that the player makes movements up the pitch in order to put pressure on the opposition. As a centre-back, Philipp has made a total of 26 counter-pressing recoveries in the middle and final third of the pitch. Additionally, he has made seven high regains and three dangerous recoveries for Freiburg this season.
Progressive ability
The above viz is a representation of the progressive passes made by the player. It can be seen that most of his work rate is again on the left side of the defence and in the middle third of the pitch. The player makes 52.45 passes per 90 with 89.9% accuracy. Additionally, he makes 6.04 passes into the final third on average. Lienhart makes 16.68 forward passes with 77% accuracy per 90 minutes. He possesses fine passing ability in terms of passes attempted and pass accuracy. He possesses a fine ability to provide long balls and averages 6.12 long passes per 90, has 60.7% accuracy, and helps switch the play for his side.
Contributions in the final third of last season
Lienhart has also managed to score some goals for Freiburg over the years. He scored nine goals from 26 shots in the 2020–21 and 2021/22 Bundesliga seasons and finished with an overall xG of 6.09 and 0.23 xG per shot. He had 11 shots on target and scored from within the six-yard box. Most of his goals came from set pieces and corners, and he is accurate in finding the back of the net.
Alongside scoring goals, he also managed to put pressure high up the pitch in the opponent’s half and the final third. His ability to put pressure on the opposition makes a difference for his team on the pitch. He contributed to a total of 77 counter-pressing recoveries and 23 high regains, along with six dangerous recoveries. Most of his actions are in the middle third and towards the right side of the pitch, as he slotted in as the right back for a majority of the last two Bundesliga seasons.
Overall, Philipp Lienhart is a talented 26-year-old with plenty to offer on the pitch. He has a good sense of positioning and can find the back of the net from set pieces. His performance on the pitch for Freiburg has been crucial over the seasons. Lienhart will look to help his side keep more clean sheets this season and concede less in order to climb the ladder. The team has a good shot at challenging for the third spot as they sit only two points behind Union Berlin.
Visuals via TFA data viz engine
