Kompany compares Olise to De Bruyne

Vincent Kompany lauded Michael Olise's mindset and compared the Bayern Munich star to Kevin De Bruyne.

Olise has excelled at Bayern, and has been among Europe's best performers this season.

Only Kylian Mbappe (43) and club-mate Harry Kane (53) have recorded more goal involvements in all competitions this season than Olise (39), among players to play in Europe's top five leagues.

Olise has already assisted 17 Bundesliga goals this term, meaning he is just four short of the single-campaign record in the competition, set by Bayern great Thomas Muller (21).

And with Kane, who missed England's friendly loss to Japan in midweek, out for Saturday's trip to Freiburg, Kompany hailed Olise's sensational form.

"His mindset is what makes him so special," Kompany said of the France star.

"As I've already said a few times: He's a lad who works with great attention to detail, who also gets frustrated sometimes when things don't work out 100%.

"But as a coach, you're also very challenged because you have to think at the very highest level. But it's easier to have a player who works on himself at that level."

Kompany sees comparisons between Olise and his former Manchester City team-mate De Bruyne.

"I've always compared him to Kevin de Bruyne, I always think I see that in him," Kompany added.

"What Michael does, the way he shoots, he dribbles, right and left foot, I feel like I've seen that in a player before. I'm sure he'll get even better and make Bayern even better in the future."

While Kane will be out against Freiburg, Kompany is hopeful the England captain will be fit to face Real Madrid next week.

He said: "Harry felt something in his ankle while with the national team. He won't be available. Nevertheless, I'm positive about Tuesday. It's not great, I'd like him to play against Freiburg, but as things stand that won't be possible."

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Freiburg - Igor Matanovic 

Matanovic recently scored his second brace of the Bundesliga season.

No other Freiburg player has scored multiple goals in a single game this Bundesliga campaign. His eight goals this Bundesliga season have been worth 12 points – only Kane's goals have earned his club more points this season (13).

Bayern Munich - Michael Olise

Olise recently registered his 28th direct goal involvement in the Bundesliga this season (11 goals, 17 assists), already surpassing his total from the entire previous season (27).

In the 6-2 win against Freiburg in the reverse fixture, he recorded five direct goal involvements (two goals, three assists) for the only time in his 59 Bundesliga appearances.

MATCH PREDICTION: BAYERN MUNICH WIN

Bayern have lost just one of their last 20 competitive matches against Freiburg (W15 D4), a 1-2 home defeat in the DFB-Pokal quarter-finals in April 2023.

Among teams Bayern have faced at least 20 times in the Bundesliga, they only have a higher points-per-game average in the top-flight against Wolfsburg (2.54) than against Freiburg (2.37).

Freiburg have secured just one win in 13 Bundesliga matches this season against teams currently in the top half of the table (D5 L7), the joint-lowest in the league alongside Borussia Monchengladbach and Wolfsburg.

With 70 points after 27 matches, Bayern are enjoying their third-best Bundesliga season; only in 2012-13 (72) and 2013-14 (77) have they had more points at this stage.

Their recent win against Union Berlin was their 36th victory in all competitions this season, already surpassing their total from the entire previous season (35).

Bayern have scored at least three goals in 21 Bundesliga matches this season – they could now equal the Bundesliga record, which they set themselves last season (22 times).

Kompany's team have netted 97 goals this season, just four goals shy of the Bundesliga season record of 101 goals set by Bayern in 1971-72.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Freiburg - 16.4%

Draw - 19.6%

Bayern Munich - 64%