Bayern Form
Munich get their season back underway with a trip to the capital and a lead in the title race, though it’s unclear whether or not that lead will be slashed to just one point with Dortmund hosting the Revierderby a day earlier.
Nevertheless, the task remains the same for the reigning champions and that’s to go out and win every match, and we wouldn’t bet against them doing just that here.
Munich were on a run of 10 wins from 11 unbeaten matches, scoring an incredible 3.8 goals per game across those wins, including 20 from their five away matches in that time.
While the lack of support may be a hinderance when back home at the Allianz, we can’t see it having too much of an effect on the road and we’d expect Hansi Flick’s side to pick up where they left off and rack up some goals and take the win.
Union Berlin Form
Indeed, they’ve won all seven matches versus bottom-half sides under current management, netting 26 goals, while Union Berlin have often struggled up against the big teams.
Despite wins over Dortmund and Monchengladbach on home soil, who were actually 2nd and 1st respectively at the time of playing, the most recent of those was back in November.
Since that stunning victory over Gladbach they’ve lost six of seven winless matches when facing top-half sides and conceded 20 goals, so it doesn’t bode well for them up against the league leaders.
What’s more, the hosts will have some injuries to contend with, missing Sheraldo Becker and Marvin Friedrich, while top scorer Sebastian Andersson and creative midfielder Akaki Gogia could also be out.
Bayern Munich -1.75 Asian Handicap
While there’s unsurprisingly little value in getting behind the visitors outright, the handicap might be the way to go.
The Bavarian giants have won by at least two clear goals in nine of their past 11 outings, and by a minimum of three in over half of their seven encounters with bottom-half sides under Flick.
Matches behind closed doors is a relatively unknown quantity, though the -1.75 Asian Handicap appeals much more.
0.5 pts: Bayern Munich D/W HT/FT
One thing that can be said for Urs Fischer’s side is that they often take a while to break down, especially when at home.
They’ve only trailed at the break on home ground once this season, on the opening weekend, as they’ve been level at the halfway stage in seven of the subsequent 11 such matches.
Meanwhile Bayern have gone D/W half time/full time in three of their last five against the bottom half, and the hosts look good value to keep it tight for the first half at least.
