Bayern Munich will look to end their run of four winless league games against Bayer Leverkusen on Friday night.
Leverkusen has won only one of their seven Bundesliga games this season and come to the Allianz Arena in 15th place in the table.
Bayern Munich vs Bayer Leverkusen match preview
After scoring 20 goals in their first four games of the season, including a 5-3 win over RB Leipzig in the DFL Supercup at the end of July, Bayern's title defense has stuttered considerably since then. After three draws in a row, there was a surprising 0: 1 defeat against Augsburg before the international break.
Although Julian Nagelsmann's team dominated most of the game at the WWK Arena as expected (77% possession and 19 shots on goal in the 90 minutes), Mergim Berisha's goal just before the break ensured Bayern's second home win in a row.
Nagelsmann hopes his players will return from the international break stronger and able to focus on success again, even though the German team missed out on a place in the UEFA Nations League semifinals after losing at home to Hungary last Friday.
The loss to Augsburg leaves Bayern five points behind league leaders Union Berlin and, perhaps more importantly, three points behind Borussia Dortmund ahead of Bayern's visit to Westfalenstadion next weekend.
Although there is still plenty of time to reduce that gap, the pressure is growing on Nagelsmann, especially after the narrow defeat to Villarreal in the quarterfinals of the Champions League. A win in the fifth league game in a row against a team struggling like Leverkusen would only fuel speculation about his job.
Bayer Leverkusen vs Bayern Munich
Indeed, Leverkusen has had a nightmarish start to the season, losing six of its first seven games in a row.
With two draws in a row, the team has at least moved away from the relegation places, even though it suffered an embarrassing 4-3 defeat against third-division team Elversberg in the DFB Cup.
Gerardo Seoane would have been disappointed, however, if his team had squandered a lead in both games, especially in the last home game against Werder Bremen, when Milos Veljkovic equalized from close range in the 82nd minute.
Minute scored the equalizer. Goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky bore the brunt of the blame for that goal conceded when he failed to hold onto a free kick, and it's fair to say that this was not the Finnish goalkeeper's first catastrophic error this season after he fell behind the line with the ball in his hands in the defeat to Club Brugge in the Champions League.
Having generally been very reliable over the past four seasons at Leverkusen, the captain's loss of form is symptomatic of a lack of confidence at the club and Seoane may feel he has been let down by some of his colleagues.
Team news
Manuel Neuer and Leon Goretzka both missed the Nations League games against Hungary and England after contracting the coronavirus, but the duo should be able to play again for Bayern this weekend.
Lucas Hernandez, Kingsley Coman, and Bouna Sarr are expected to be out for several more weeks due to injury, limiting Nagelsmann's choices as he searches for a new recipe for success.
Serge Gnabry, who has only been in the starting eleven in one of Bayern's last five league games, could start from the beginning to provide more penetration in the final third, which could see Thomas Mueller lose his place.
Leverkusen, on the other hand, will have to do without Andrey Lunev, Exequiel Palacios, Florian Wirtz, Amine Adli, and Karim Bellarabi due to injury.
The expected absence of Lunev due to a hamstring injury deprives Seoane of the opportunity to replace Hradecky if he so desires after his captain's poor form, and third goalkeeper Niklas Lomb lacks experience at the highest level.
Seoane could switch to a back five for the trip to Munich, with Jeremie Frimpong and Mitchel Bakker at full-back and Callum Hudson-Odoi and Moussa Diaby able to operate in the middle behind Patrik Schick.
Bayern Munich vs Bayer Leverkusen fixtures
- Bayern Munich's possible starting lineup: Neuer, Pavard, De Ligt, Mane, Upamecano, Davies, Kimmich, Goretzka, Sane, Musiala, Gnabry.
- Bayer Leverkusen's possible starting lineup: Hradecky, Schick, Hudson-Odoi, Kossounou, Tah, Tapsoba, Frimpong, Andrich, Demirbay, Bakker, Diaby.
We say: Bayern Munich 3-1 Bayer Leverkusen
We expect Bayern to settle down after the international break and get back to winning ways against Leverkusen on Friday.
The guests undoubtedly have the offensive tools to hurt Bayern in the first round.
Bayern Munich vs Bayer Leverkusen live stream
Through the live sports event blog, we try as much as possible to provide live broadcasts of the Bayern Munich vs Bayer Leverkusen match, when we get the live broadcast from the official source.
Post a Comment