Bayern Munich: Three things to watch for against Stuttgart

Bayern Munich will look to remain atop the Bundesliga table with a victory against Stuttgart.

Matchday nine of the 2020/21 Bundesliga season has arrived and Bayern Munich are in first place in the league table. They hold a one-point advantage over Borussia Dortmund and Bayer Leverkusen following their 1-1 draw with Werder Bremen on matchday eight.

Die Roten’s opponents on Saturday will be Stuttgart who are currently a mid-table club that has lost just one match so far this season. Here are three things to watch for ahead of Saturday’s match between Bayern and Stuttgart.

Speed on full display

This match will feature some of the Bundesliga’s quickest players. For Bayern, they have Serge Gnabry and Leroy Sane while Stuttgart has the young talent Silas Wamangituka. The 21-year-old has scored three goals and registered one assist for Stuttgart so far this season.

He will certainly be one of the players Bayern will have to contain if they want to earn their seventh victory of the campaign. Sane has been in great form for Bayern as of late and he is the speedster who Stuttgart will have to contain if they hope to take away at least a point from this fixture.

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Torjägerkanone race heats up

The race for the top scorer in the Bundesliga has been heating up with Erling Braut Haaland reducing Robert Lewandowski’s lead to just one goal entering this weekend. With the race for the top scorer award getting close, Lewandowski will need a response to Haaland’s four-goal performance against Hertha Berlin last Saturday. This match against Stuttgart will offer the Bayern striker the opportunity to produce another multi-goal performance. For this reason, there could be a big-time performance to come from Lewandowski on Saturday.

A tough opponent

Stuttgart have not been an easy club to defeat. They have not lost a match in their last five Bundesliga fixtures. For this reason, Bayern will need to be cautious entering this match, especially after dropping points against Werder Bremen the week prior to this fixture.

Bayern cannot afford to overlook the newly promoted side as they are capable of holding Die Roten to a point. Goals will have to come early and often if Bayern hopes to pull away from the hosts. In their last Bundesliga match, Stuttgart scored an equalizer in the final minutes to earn a point. Nine of the 16 goals they’ve recorded this season have come in the second half. They can punish their opponents if they don’t finish the match strong.