Joshua Kimmich likely to start alongside Palhinha
Despite intense speculation over the summer, Joshua Kimmich will remain at Bayern for the start of the new season. With Kimmich having previously made it clear that he prefers a midfield role, based on his experience and his ability to supplement the attack as both a creator and potential goal-scorer, it would not be a surprise to see Kimmich getting the nod from coach Vincent Kompany ahead of Pavlovic. Kimmich has already confirmed that Kompany is planning to use him in midfield next season. Should this turn out to be the case then, similar to last season, Pavlovic would have to once again seize the moment when the opportunity arises.
To further lend credence to that point of view, in Bayern’s first competitive match of the season on Friday (4-0 win over 2. Bundesliga side SSV Ulm in the first round of the DFB-Pokal), Kompany elected to start the game with a midfield double-pivot pairing of none other than Kimmich and Pavlovic. Kimmich played the entire game and was the more impressive of the two players, particularly in the opposition’s half of the pitch. Pavlovic was replaced by Palhinha after 77 minutes.