Hoffenheim vs. Bayern Munich preview: Can the champions record a fourth consecutive victory?
Bayern Munich will look to claim a fourth straight win in all competitions when they face a Hoffenheim side, who have won their last two games.
| Photo: Steffen Prößdorf, CC BY-SA 4.0 |
Hoffenheim
Hoffenheim will be looking for a third consecutive victory after beating Schalke twice in their last two games.
Two Robert Skov penalties Mu'nas Dabbur strike helped Hoffenheim cruise to a 3-0 victory against Schalke in their most recent Bundesliga game, and they followed that win by beating the same opponents 5-1 in the DFB-Pokal on Tuesday. Dabbur was once again on the scoresheet, as he netted on two occasions, while they were also goals for Angeliño, Ozan Kabak and Pavel Kadeřábek.
Hoffenheim would have taken confidence from those two victories, but they will face a much tougher test when they face Bayern on Saturday. The hosts head into the contest in fifth place, and they are only two points adrift of the Bavarians.
The hosts will certainly believe they can clinch a positive result after avoiding defeat in their previous two Bundesliga home games against Bayern, while they have only lost one of their six competitive home matches this season.
Team News
Ihlas Bebou, Ermin Bicakcic and Benjamin Hübner are all sidelined with injuries, while Kevin Vogt is suspended for Saturday's contest. Andrej Kramaric is also expected to miss out due to an ankle problem.
Bayern Munich
Bayern are looking to edge closer to top spot after taking seven points from their previous nine league games. The Bavarians ended a four-game winless run in the league with a 4-0 victory over Bayer Leverkusen before they drew with Borussia Dortmund despite leading by two goals in the Klassiker. In their most recent Bundesliga encounter, they cruised to a comfortable 5-0 victory over Freiburg.
Julian Nagelsmann's side also scored five goals in their midweek DFB-Pokal meeting with Augsburg. The Bavarians lost 1-0 to Augsburg earlier in the campaign, but they had no such trouble on Wednesday, as they claimed a commanding 5-2 win, which included an Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting brace.
As they turn their attention back to league action, the German champions will be aiming to at the very least maintain the four-point gap to current league leaders Union Berlin.
Although they are winless in their last three Bundesliga away games, Bayern will believe they have the quality in the final third to beat Hoffenheim after scoring 25 goals in their last six games in all competitions.
Team News
An injury issue will prevent Manuel Neuer from featuring, while Thomas Müller is unavailable due to illness. Lucas Hernandez, Leroy Sané and Bouna Sarr are also sidelined for the visitors.
