Bayern Munich take on Hoffenheim in the Bundesliga on Saturday, with the Bavarians looking to extend their seven point lead at the top of the table.
Hoffenheim have won their last two games 3-0, and will take confidence from beating Bayern 4-1 in the reverse fixture in September.
Match preview
© Reuters
This period of kinder fixtures for Bayern always looked like one where the reigning champions may run away with things at the top of the Bundesliga once again, and so it has proved, with three straight wins for Hansi Flick's side giving them a significant seven-point lead at the summit.
Ominously for the rest of the league, Bayern's attacking prowess appeared to have returned in the 4-0 win at Schalke 04 on Sunday, albeit against by far the Bundesliga's worst defence.
Robert Lewandowski broke another Bundesliga record by becoming the first player ever to score in eight successive away games, with the Pole's calm finish sandwiched by two decisive Thomas Muller headers. Significantly, each of these three goals was assisted by Joshua Kimmich, highlighting the midfielder's importance to this team on and off the ball.
David Alaba wrapped up the rout with a piledriver from distance, but the Bavarians will need to be on guard against a Hoffenheim side capable of transitioning at breakneck speed.
© Reuters
Indeed, after a significant injury crisis contributed to a tricky period of results for Sebastian Hoeness, the 38-year-old will be delighted that his side appear to be back on track.
After all, this is a team which finished sixth last season and romped their Europa League group this season, so the ceiling is clearly much higher than they have shown in the past few months.
The biggest factor for Hoffenheim's downturn in form was undoubtedly Andrej Kramaric's prolonged absence due to COVID-19, with the forward seemingly finding top gear once again having scored four goals in the past two games.
The Croatian opened the scoring with a Panenka penalty in Saturday's 3-0 win over FC Koln before wrapping up the three points in the second half with another penalty after Christoph Baumgartner's instinctive close range finish had doubled the hosts' tally.
Hoeness will know the size of the task awaiting his side in Munich, but he is likely to treat it as a free hit now that Hoffenheim have a healthy seven-point gap of their own in terms of the cushion above recent opponents Koln, who currently occupy the relegation playoff position.
Bayern Munich Bundesliga form: WWLWWW
Bayern Munich form (all competitions): WLLWWW
Hoffenheim Bundesliga form: WLLDWW
Hoffenheim form (all competitions): LLLDWW
Team News
© Reuters
Bayern are without Corentin Tolisso and Tanguy Nianzou due to muscle injuries, but otherwise have a clean bill of health.
With the Bavarians knocked out of the DFB-Pokal, Flick is free to choose what he currently considers his strongest side. It remains to be seen whether that means Benjamin Pavard or Niklas Sule at right-back, with Sule performing admirably out of position in recent matches, with Kingsley Coman competing with Leroy Sane for a starting berth on a flank.
Hoffenheim, meanwhile, are still missing several players, with Ermin Bicakcic, Benjamin Hubner and Kostas Stafylidis definitely ruled out of travelling to Munich.
This match is likely to come too soon for Florian Grillitsch, Dennis Geiger, Robert Skov and Kevin Akpoguma, too, but the quartet should return to training next week.
Bayern Munich possible starting lineup:
Neuer; Sule, Boateng, Alaba, Davies; Kimmich, Goretzka; Gnabry, Muller, Coman; Lewandowski
Hoffenheim possible starting lineup:
Baumann; Kasim, Vogt, Posch; Gacinovic, Samassekou, Rudy, John; Baumgartner; Bebou, Kramaric
We say: Bayern Munich 3-1 Hoffenheim
Hoffenheim have improved in recent matches, but are probably still missing too many key players to push Bayern all of the way.
We expect the visitors to score in defeat, though, with Kramaric likely to worry Flick after scoring a brace against his side in September.
Top betting tip
Brett Curtis
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Bayern Munich win with a probability of 77.75%. A draw had a probability of 12.4% and a win for Hoffenheim had a probability of 9.86%.
The most likely scoreline for a Bayern Munich win was 3-1 with a probability of 8.06%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (7.4%) and 3-0 (6.9%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (4.53%), while for a Hoffenheim win it was 1-2 (2.65%). The actual scoreline of 4-1 was predicted with a 6.6% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Bayern Munich would win this match.
