The defending champions, Bayern Munich, paid tribute to their greatest son, Franz Beckenbauer, by beating Hoffenheim 3-0 last week to keep the pressure on Bundesliga leaders Bayer Leverkusen. Since then, Thomas Tuchel’s men have spent the week in Portugal training in warm weather, but defenders Matthijs de Ligt and Dayot Upamecano picked up injuries, which has dampened the mood slightly.
A return to the Allianz Arena should give them a lift, however, as the Bavarians have lost just one of their last 32 home league matches (23 wins, 8 draws). Remarkably, Bayern have scored in 65 consecutive Bundesliga home games since February 2020. This is bad news for Werder Bremen, who have not won any of the last 33 meetings between the two sides and have lost 26 of the last 27!
Werder Bremen have shown some resilience in recent weeks, however, drawing each of their last three Bundesliga matches. Ole Werner’s men are unbeaten in four matches (1 win, 3 draws), but with just six points separating them from the relegation zone, they will need to start turning those draws into wins if they want to avoid being dragged into the fight for survival.
The toughest assignment in German football therefore comes at a bad time, especially for a team that has not won any of their last 11 away matches (3 draws, 8 defeats). This has contributed to the fact that no team in the division has picked up fewer points on the road than Werder this season, but it is a fixture that haunts them wherever they play, as evidenced by their 4-0 defeat on the opening night of the Bundesliga in the reverse fixture!
Key battle: Bayern striker Harry Kane scored on his debut that night, kicking off an incredible run of 22 goals in 16 Bundesliga matches this season. The Englishman needs just one goal to break Robert Lewandowski’s record for the first half of a season (17 matches) in the German top flight. He will be up against Bremen centre-back Niklas Stark, but the latter could have his eyes on the scoresheet himself after equalising in stoppage time against Bochum last week, his second goal in three matches.
Hot stat: Bayern’s Bundesliga matches this season have averaged a total of 4.19 goals.
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