Arminia Bielefeld vs Bayern Munich preview: Can Die Arminen upset Bayern?
After exiting the Champions League in midweek, Bayern Munich will be looking for a positive response when they face an Arminia Bielefeld side who are fighting for their Bundesliga place.
Arminia Bielefeld
With Bielefeld three points adrift of safety, and two points behind the playoff spot, they would have preferred an easier contest than a home meeting with the German champions.
Including Sunday’s contest, Die Arminen will face three of the current top six in their final five games, suggesting that they will have to cause a surprise or two if they are to remain in the Bundesliga.
Frank Kramer’s side enter Sunday’s contest in woeful form after collecting just one point from their last six games, leaving them in 17th place.
Die Arminen’s confidence took another blow last weekend, when they were hammered by Wolfsburg, losing 4-0 for the second away game in a row.
The hosts will also be concerned by the fact that they have been plagued by an inability to consistently find the net, with Die Arminen currently the lowest scorers in the Bundesliga, while they have scored just one goal across their last six matches.
Bielefeld can at least take encouragement from the valiant display they put in against Bayern in the reverse fixture, with Die Arminen falling to a narrow 1-0 defeat on that occasion.
Team News
The hosts have doubts over the availability of Florian Krüger, Cedric Brunner and Sebastian Vasiliadis, while Fabian Klos is out with a head injury.
Bayern Munich
Bayern are still reeling from their midweek Champions League exit. It was a humbling experience for the Bavarians, with a late strike from Villarreal's Samuel Chukwueze knocking Julian Nagelsmann’s side out of the competition.
With Bayern now out of the DFB-Pokal and the Champions League, their sole focus will be on retaining their league title.
Dortmund’s 6-1 victory over Wolfsburg on Saturday reduced Bayern’s gap at the top to six points, but they will be confident of ending the weekend with a nine-point cushion after winning their last three league games, while they are currently unbeaten in their previous seven Bundesliga matches.
With Nagelsmann’s charges boasting the best defensive record in the league, they will believe they have the resources to negate an underperforming Bielefeld attack
The hosts are also the highest scorers in Bundesliga, and they will be aiming to hit the 100 goal mark before the end of the season.
Their recent away record against Bielefeld also offers cause for optimism, as Bayern have won five of their last six Bundesliga away games against Die Arminen.
Team News
Nagelsmann has indicated that Lucas Hernandez and Kingsley Coman will miss Sunday's contest, while Bayern are also without the services of Corentin Tolisso and Niklas Süle.