The most anticipated matchup of German Bundesliga play so far this season is finally upon us. Bayern Munich travel to take on Bayer Leverkusen in a top-two clash. The Bavarians go into the encounter with 50 points from the previous 20 matches, as the best second-place team in league history up to this point of the campaign. Meanwhile, Leverkusen defend an unbeaten record in all competitions, but only lead Bayern by a mere two points. Last Word on Football brings you our Bayern Munich predicted lineup for the match.
Bayern Munich Predicted Lineup vs Bayer Leverkusen
How Bayern Munich Have Lined Up Recently
In their last match against Gladbach, Bayern started with Manuel Neuer in goal.
Alphonso Davies and Noussair Mazraoui played in the fullback positions, as Eric Dier joined Matthijs de Ligt in the centre of defence. Leon Goretzka started the game in the holding midfield role next to Aleksandar Pavlovic. Finally, Leroy Sané Thomas Müller, Jamal Musiala, as well as Harry Kane made up the front four.
The team yet again continued their bad luck in terms of injuries. Davies had to go off injured, while Neuer also suffered a knock late on, which may keep him out of the Leverkusen clash.
Yet, due to the club’s January transfer deals and the return of players who were away on international duty, there finally is a true competition for places in the first team. This of course makes predicting the starting lineups all the more difficult.
Bayern Munich Recent Form and Tactics
The Bavarians have started the calendar year with four victories and a defeat. In the pre-match press conference coach Thomas Tuchel claimed that Bayer Leverkusen are far closer to reaching their peak performance potential than his team have been to reaching theirs so far this season. He also pointed out that even as good as the league leaders have been, Bayern Munich are still only two points behind them for the time being.
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He accused the media of having been overly critical of his team, instead of being happy that two sides are performing at such a high level. That is certainly true, as the German media tend to hold Bayern players and staff to an unfairly different standard than the rest of the league.
At the same time, it is also the case that if they finish the season as the best second-place team in Bundesliga history, it would still be regarded as a failure for the side that have won the league on the last 11 occasions. Tactically, the 4-2-3-1 formation has once again proven to be the most effective formation for the Bavarians.
Bayern Munich Injuries to Consider
Kingsley Coman, Bouna Sarr, Konrad Laimer, Serge Gnabry, Daniel Peretz and the newly injured Davies are all out. Dayot Upamecano, Joshua Kimmich, and the above-mentioned Neuer are questionable. Whether they play or not will be decided close to kickoff.
Bayern Munich Predicted Lineup vs Bayer Leverkusen
Neuer, Mazraoui, Upamecano, de Ligt, Guerreiro, Kimmich, Goretzka, Sané, Müller, Musiala, Kane.
