Bayern Munich vs. Union Berlin preview: Key game in the title race
Bayern Munich will have the chance to close the seven-point gap to leaders Bayer Leverkusen when they face Union Berlin in Wednesday's game in hand.
Bayern Munich
Bayern will have to pick themselves up after they suffered a surprise 1-0 defeat to Werder Bremen on Sunday. Former Bayern man Mitchell Weiser scored the decisive goal to condemn the Bavarians to their first defeat to Bremen since September 2008 – a result that has led to scrutiny over Thomas Tuchel’s position as head coach.
After losing for the second time this season, Bayern’s game in hand with Union has now taken on greater importance. The reigning Bundesliga champions will be determined to return to winning ways and close the gap to Leverkusen as they seek a 12th consecutive league title.
Despite failing to find the net against Bremen, Tuchel’s side are still the highest scorers in the league, having netted 52 goals in the top flight this season. They will be confident about their chances of adding to that tally, having won and scored seven goals across their last two home league games against Union. The Bavarians cruised to a 4-0 home win in March 2022, before they beat die Eisernen 3-0 when the teams last met at the Allianz Arena in February 2023.
Team News
Serge Gnabry, Daniel Peretz, Bouna Sarr, Tarek Buchmann and Gabriel Marusic are set to miss out through injury. Meanwhile, Noussair Mazraoui and Kim Min-jae are currently on international duty.
Union Berlin
Union will be well rested for the midweek fixture after Friday’s match against Mainz was postponed due to snow. As a result, Nenad Bjelica’s side have not been in action since playing out a goalless draw against Freiburg on January 13.
While they have only lost one of their last five league games (W2, D2), Union are still firmly involved in a relegation scrap. Having won four, drawn two and lost 10 of their 17 Bundesliga matches, die Eisernen are languishing in 15th place and just three points clear of the bottom three.
Although they will be determined to extend that gap on Wednesday, their away form will dampen hopes about picking up a positive result. The visitors currently have the worst away record in the top flight after mustering just four points from their eight road trips.
If they are to claim their second away win of the Bundesliga season, Union will need to record their first-ever competitive victory over Bayern, having failed to do so in eight previous attempts (W5, D3).
Team News
Union are unable to call up the injured duo of Josip Juranovic and Rani Khedira. They are also without the services of Aissa Laidouni, who is at the Africa Cup of Nations.