After celebrating qualification for the last 16 of the Champions League in midweek, Bayern Munich return to Bundesliga action to face Heidenheim at the Allianz Arena on Saturday.
This David vs. Goliath battle pairs up a Bayern side, who have played the most games in Bundesliga history (1,986), with a newly-promoted Heidenheim outfit who have played the fewest of all teams to have appeared in the German top flight (10).
Match preview
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Bayern Munich are one of only three teams, along with Real Madrid and holders Manchester City, who boast a 100% record after four Champions League group-stage fixtures this season after they claimed a 2-1 home win over Galatasaray on Wednesday.
The Bavarian giants were initially frustrated by their Turkish counterparts, but they eventually made the breakthrough courtesy of two goals in the final 10 minutes from goal machine Harry Kane, before Cedric Bakambu netted what proved to be a consolation strike for the visitors in the third minute of stoppage time.
Bayern have extended their record-breaking unbeaten run in the Champions League group stage to 38 games and have secured their place in the last 16 for the 20th time as they sit pretty at the top of Group A, eight points clear of Copenhagen and Galatasaray with two games to spare.
Thomas Tuchel's men are also unbeaten in the Bundesliga and have picked up 26 points from their opening 10 games, their best points return at this stage for eight seasons since a 30-point haul under former boss Pep Guardiola in 2015-16; the German giants thrashed Borussia Dortmund 4-0 in their last league match with Kane netting a hat-trick on his Der Klassiker debut.
Despite this fine start, Bayern still find themselves two points behind high-flying leaders Bayer Leverkusen, but the reigning champions – who have won each of their last five home games by an aggregate score of 24-3 – can momentarily climb to the summit before Leverkusen face Union Berlin on Sunday if they beat Heidenheim on Saturday.
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After suffering back-to-back defeats to Borussia Monchengladbach in the Bundesliga and DFB-Pokal, Heidenheim returned to winning ways when they beat third-placed Stuttgart 2-0 on home soil last weekend.
Jan Schoppner broke the deadlock in the 70th minute with his first goal on his first start of the season for FCH, before Tim Kleindienst sealed the victory with a 94th-minute strike – his sixth goal of the campaign.
Frank Schmidt's side have accumulated 10 points from as many matches in their inaugural Bundesliga campaign and currently sit 13th in the table, four points clear of the bottom three and three points behind the top half.
Heidenheim head to the Allianz Arena on Saturday with the joint-worst away record in the Bundesliga so far this season, as they have only picked up one of their 10 points this season away from home, which was surprisingly claimed from a 2-2 draw at Borussia Dortmund in September.
Only once previously have Heidenheim locked horns with Bayern, but they ended up on wrong side of a nine-goal thriller in the 2018-19 DFB-Pokal quarter-finals as Robert Lewandowski converted an 84th-minute penalty to secure a 5-4 home victory for the Bavarians.
Team News
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Bayern Munich's Jamal Musiala was forced off in the first half of the midweek win over Galatasaray with a hamstring injury and the attacking midfielder will join Matthijs de Ligt (knee) and Tarek Buchmann (thigh) in the treatment room.
The absence of Musiala is set to see Thomas Muller start in the number 10 role, while Leon Goretzka is expected to continue in centre-midfield alongside Konrad Laimer as Joshua Kimmich will serve the second and final game of his two-match suspension.
Kane, who shares the all-time Bundesliga record with Gerd Muller (1968-69) for the best scoring start to a campaign after netting 15 goals in his first 10 games, is expected to lead the line and could be supported in attack by Leroy Sane and either Serge Gnabry or Kingsley Coman.
As for Heidenheim, Thomas Keller and Elidon Qenaj both remain sidelined with knee injuries, while Marvin Pieringer missed last weekend's win over Stuttgart with an ankle problem and is a doubt for Saturday.
The potential absence of Pieringer could therefore see Adrian Beck continue in an advance-midfield role in behind central striker Kleindienst, while Eren Dinkci and Jan-Niklas Beste – who have scored 10 goals between them in all tournaments so far this season – occupy the flanks.
Bayern Munich possible starting lineup:
Neuer; Mazraoui, Upamecano, Kim, Davies; Laimer, Goretzka; Sane, Muller, Gnabry; Kane
Heidenheim possible starting lineup:
Muller; Traore, Mainka, Gimber, Theuerkauf; Maloney, Schoppner; Dinkci, Beck, Beste; Kleindienst
We say: Bayern Munich 4-1 Heidenheim
Heidenheim have already frustrated Dortmund away from home this term, but they have since struggled in recent games on the road, losing each of their last four and conceding 11 goals in the process, and they head into Saturday's clash as major underdogs.
Bayern, meanwhile, are enjoying an impressive run of form in the Bundesliga, largely thanks to the efforts of Kane in the final third, and we believe that the Bavarians will have few problems securing a comfortable win at the Allianz Arena.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Oliver Thomas
