Bayern Munich continue their Bundesliga campaign this Saturday at home against Mainz. Die Roten will be hoping for a convincing win after recent lackluster displays.
After last weekend’s disappointing loss against Hoffenheim and Tuesday’s less-than-convincing win over Anderlecht, Bayern Munich head into Bundesliga match-day four looking for an emphatic win over Mainz.
After starting the Bundesliga season with two consecutive losses, the visitors travel to the Allianz Arena hot on the heels of a 3-1 victory over Bayer Leverkusen last weekend. Given the recent struggles of their Bavarian foes, Mainz will be hoping to pull-off a shock victory.
Bayern Munich, however, will not make things easy for them. The Bavarians will be eager to put last weekend’s loss behind them and get back to their winning ways.
Team news
Bayern Munich go into this match in less-than-stellar form. Victories against Bayer Leverkusen and Werder Bremen to jump-start their Bundesliga campaign hide the fact that Bayern struggled heavily in both matches.
Last week’s 2-0 defeat to Hoffenheim was a disappointing result, but will hopefully drive the Bavarians to quickly dispose of Mainz this weekend.
They’ll have to do so, however, without a few first-team players. David Alaba and Juan Bernat — Bayern’s first and second choice left-backs — are both out injured. However, Carlo Ancelotti has the rest of his team at his disposal.
In his pre-match press conference, the Italian manager promised some rotation to his starting XI, but said it would not be too much.
Predicted line-up
There’s really no choice to be made at the goalkeeper position as captain Manuel Neuer will surely fill that post. In front of him, it’s likely that Joshua Kimmich and Rafinha will continue as the starting right and left-back respectively.
Given a rest in midweek, Mats Hummels is almost a surefire starter at center-back. The question is: who will pair with him? Jerome Boateng recently returned from injury and could definitely see the starting XI, but it might just be too early for the German international to play a full 90. Expect Javi Martinez to be Hummels’ partner in defense.
Like Hummels, Arturo Vidal will surely make the starting XI after a midweek absence. If Carlo opts for a 4-3-3, then both Thiago and Rudy will surely join the Chilean in midfield. If he opts for a 4-2-3-1, however, expect one of the two to be deployed alongside Vidal.
Given his fantastic display against Anderlecht, James will surely be handed his first full Bundesliga debut against Mainz. Robert Lewandowski will lead the Bayern line, but who will join the two in attack is anyone’s guess.
Thomas Muller missed out on the Champions League clash midweek so he could make a return, as could Kingsley Coman. Muller had excellent link-up play with James in pre-season, and it would be wonderful to see the pair in action together on Saturday.
Here’s the line-up I’d like to see:
"NeuerKimmich – Hummels – Boateng – RafinhaVidal – ThiagoJames – Muller – ComanLewandowski"
Opposition focus
In recent seasons, Mainz have become a bit of a bogey team for Bayern Munich, last season drawing the Bavarian giants and the year before beating them.
Like Bayern, they have not enjoyed the best start to the ’17-18 Bundesliga season. They have only picked up three points out of a possible nine. They are missing several squad members due to injury, and will not be very hopeful of escaping Munich with three points.
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Prediction
Despite their current funk, Bayern Munich should easily see this match out, escaping with a convincing win.
Bayern Munich 4-0 Mainz