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Bayern Munich: Three things to watch for during visit to Schalke

By Daniel Garza

MUNICH, GERMANY - SEPTEMBER 18: Serge Gnabry (C) of Bayern Munich celebrates scoring the 4th team goal with his team mates Leroy Sane (R) and Lucas Hernandez during the Bundesliga match between FC Bayern Muenchen and FC Schalke 04 at Allianz Arena on September 18, 2020 in Munich, Germany. (Photo by Alexander Hassenstein/Bongarts/Getty Images)
MUNICH, GERMANY - SEPTEMBER 18: Serge Gnabry (C) of Bayern Munich celebrates scoring the 4th team goal with his team mates Leroy Sane (R) and Lucas Hernandez during the Bundesliga match between FC Bayern Muenchen and FC Schalke 04 at Allianz Arena on September 18, 2020 in Munich, Germany. (Photo by Alexander Hassenstein/Bongarts/Getty Images) /
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Bayern Munich begins the second half of the 2020/21 Bundesliga season against Schalke on Sunday. Die Roten defeated their opponents 8-0 on Matchday One and will be looking for a similar result in their second meeting of the season.

Schalke are desperately in need of points as they occupy last place in the table while Bayern look to remain atop the table and possibly extend their advantage on Sunday.  Here are three things to watch for ahead of the Matchday 18 fixture.

The top two strikes of January take center stage

Robert Lewandowski and Matthew Hoppe have been the top goal scorers so far in January in the Bundesliga. Both players have registered five goals during this month and are in top form.

Lewandowski has continued to build on his impressive lead in the race for the Torjägerkanone as his goal total in the Bundesliga stands at 22 at the halfway mark of the season. He has scored in seven consecutive German top flight fixtures and will be looking to extend that streak to eight matches against Schalke.

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Hoppe has been an unlikely bright spot for Schalke. The 19-year-old American striker has scored in his last three appearances for Schalke which included a hat-trick performance against Hoffenheim on Matchday 15. He will be a key player to watch for Schalke as Bayern’s backline will be tasked with limiting the opportunities that come the way of the striker.

In addition to Hoppe, Schalke have recently acquired club legend Klaas-Jan Huntelaar from Ajax. Huntelaar could make his debut for the club in his return to the Bundesliga.

If Huntelaar does make an appearance against Bayern, he will be another player to keep an eye on as he is always a dangerous attacking player capable of scoring goals. Huntelaar had four seasons of 10 goals or more during his seven season career in Germany.

Another dominant performance from Bayern?

The last meeting between these two clubs was an 8-0 victory for Bayern. That performance was the largest margin of victory recorded by Bayern so far this season. Currently, Schalke have conceded the most goals in the German top flight with 44 goals allowed in 17 matches. With Schalke still have issues with conceding goals, Bayern will be heavily favored to earn all three points once more against Schalke.  While it may not be an eight goal performance on Sunday, this could be another match where Die Roten scores lots of goals.

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Can Gnabry refind the goal scoring touch?

Serge Gnabry has scored in just two Bundesliga matches this season. One of those two matches was a hat-trick performance against Schalke on Matchday One. Since then, the winger has struggled to score goals on a consistent basis. Sunday’s fixture offers the opportunity for Gnabry to end his goal scoring drought in the domestic league.