Bayern Munich vs. Hoffenheim preview: The champions kick off 2024
On Friday, Bayern Munich will play host to Hoffenheim in the first Bundesliga match of the new year.
Bayern Munich
Bayern Munich begin the new year in second position after winning 12, drawing two and losing one of their 15 league matches. That sole defeat took place on December 9 when they were thrashed 5-1 by Eintracht Frankfurt. Despite falling to a heavy defeat, Bayern got back on track in their final two league games of 2023, beating Stuttgart 3-0 before edging out Wolfsburg via a 3-1 scoreline. As a result of those victories, Bayern rounded off the calendar year four points adrift of leaders Bayer Leverkusen, who have played a game more.
With Leverkusen set to face Augsburg on Saturday, Bayern will have the chance to reduce the gap to one point in Friday’s fixture. As one of three teams yet to lose a home league game this season (W6, D1), the Bavarians will certainly fancy their chances of claiming a positive result in their first outing of the new year. Impressively, they have won their last five home league games, scoring at least three goals in each of those matches.
Team News
Bayern are unable to call upon Daniel Peretz, Serge Gnabry, Bouna Sarr, Tarek Buchmann and Gabriel Marusic due to injury. Kim Min-jae and Noussair Mazraoui are also absent, with the pair currently on international duty.
Meanwhile, Eric Dier is expected to feature in the matchday squad after completing his loan move from Tottenham Hotspur.
Hoffenheim
Hoffenheim entered the winter break off the back of a poor run of form, where they picked up just one win in nine competitive matches. They spurned the chance to record a victory in their final match of 2023 after they gave up the lead on three occasions to draw with Darmstadt.
Seventh-placed Hoffenheim may have lost their final two away league games of 2023, but do boast the third-best away record in the top flight, having picked up 16 points from their seven road trips. They can also take confidence from the fact they picked up a point in their most recent trip to the Allianz Arena in April. On that occasion, Andrej Kramarić netted a 71st-minute equaliser to ensure the contest ended in a 1-1 draw.
While they would certainly be content with picking up another point on Friday, they will be dreaming about claiming an away victory over Bayern for the first time since winning 3-1 in January 2019.
Team News
The visitors are expected to be without Bambasé Conté, Dennis Geiger, Marco John and Mërgim Berisha. Meanwhile, Diadié Samassékou is away with the Mali squad for the Africa Cup of Nations.