Bayern Munich were able to finally close the gap on league leaders Leverkusen over the weekend as they defeated Bavarian rivals FC Augsburg last weekend. Youngster Aleksandar Pavlovic got his first goal for the first team before Alphonso Davies found the net just before half-time to give Bayern a comfortable 2-0 lead heading into the break. The second half would be much more eventful as Augsburg pulled one back, and Harry Kane restored Bayern's two-goal advantage in the 58th minute. Manuel Neuer saved one Augsburg penalty, but couldn't stop them from a second penalty in the added time. Ultimately, it wouldn't matter as Bayern clinched a 3-2 win.
With Leverkusen dropping points at Monchengladbach on matchday 19, Bayern have cut the Leverkusen lead to two points in the Bundesliga. Monchengladbach will certainly enter Saturday's match in Munich with confidence having taken a point off the league leaders, and they will be looking to take more points on Saturday. Thomas Tuchel will once again have to reshuffle his lineup ahead of the match, as injuries have continued to hit the Bayern squad.
Bayern Munich
Manuel Neuer made up for his error in conceding a penalty against Augsburg on Saturday, by coming up with a big save. After catching Felix Uduokhai's head while attempting to punch away an aerial ball, Neuer saved Sven Michel's spot kick. While he wasn't able to save the second penalty of the match, Neuer did enough to help Bayern take all three points in the Bavarian Derby. He will again look to help secure all three points on Saturday.
With both Konrad Laimer and Noussair Mazraoui out of the squad last weekend, Raphael Guerreiro filled in on his non-dominant side. With Laimer still out for the foreseeable future, Tuchel could again elect to field Guerreiro on the right or could we see the first of new signing Sacha Boey? Or does Tuchel feel Mazraoui is fit enough to come right back into the side after playing against South Africa is Morocco's elimination from the African Cup? Centrally, with only Eric Dier and Matthijs de Ligt fit at central defense, the pairing picks themselves. On the left, Alphonso Davies should get the start.
Pavlovic scored his first career Bayern Munich goal at Augsburg, and with Joshua Kimmich still out and Guerrero possibly starting at right back, Pavlovic should keep his place in the side. Likewise, Leon Goretzka should start to form the same double pivot that featured in Augsburg. Thomas Tuchel always seems to keep fans on their toes with his selections, so I'm going to go out on a limb and say Thomas Muller gets the start at the attacking midfielder role.
Thomas Tuchel again received bad news on the injury front as Kingsley Coman suffered a torn MCL against Augsburg while setting up Davies' goal, and will miss the next few months. With Coman out, I'm going to say this is where Tuchel elects to use Musiala on the left side to unlock the wider areas of Munchengladbach's back five. Leroy Sane will start on the right with Harry Kane leading the line.
Bayern Munich Predicted Starting XI
Neuer
Guerrero (Boey?)-Dier-de Ligt-Davies
Goretzka-Pavlovic
Sane-Muller-Musiala
Kane