Leipzig-Bayern Munich is a Bundesliga Week 16 match played on Friday at 20:30: line-ups, predictions, TV and streaming.
For the Bundesliga, the break for the World Cup has been considerably longer than for the other major European leagues. Germany’s top league resumes after nearly two and a half months, and it does so with a clash to savour between ambitious Leipzig and multiple champions Bayern Munich, two clubs with a fairly recent rivalry.
But where were we? Before everything came to a halt for the World Cup in Qatar, the Bavarians had managed to take back the top of the table despite an autumn full of ups and downs, at least as far as the Bundesliga was concerned. But, as we have been saying for several years now, nobody in Germany can consider themselves to be on a par with Bayern Munich: the battleship led by Julian Nagelsmann – by the way, the former Leipzig coach himself – was able to afford a muted start, recording four draws and one defeat in the first 15 days of the championship. In addition, of course, to the ten victories that allow them to look down on everyone, with four points ahead of second-placed Freiburg and six against Leipzig itself, who in the round of 16 will try to trip the reigning champions and reopen the title game.
How many absences among the Bavarians
Nagelsmann starts with several unknowns, mainly related to the numerous injuries his Bayern side have had to deal with in recent months. One of them is goalkeeper Neuer, who injured himself while skiing: for him the season is over and the Bavarian club has taken precautions with Swiss Yann Sommer, just bought from Borussia Monchengladbach.
Marco Rose
Hernandez, Mané and Mazraoui will also be absent: the latter is out indefinitely after routine checks diagnosed him with a heart problem. Leipzig, who will not be able to count on their goal scorer Nkunku, will not be full either. The Roten Bullen have been flying again with the arrival of Marco Rose on the bench, and before the stop for the Qatari World Cup they had recorded 13 consecutive useful results, including six successes between Bundesliga and Champions League. Finally, the record says Bayern Munich: Leipzig have not beaten the Bavarians at the Red Bull Arena since 2018.
The Prediction
Bayern Munich are slight favourites for the three points, but in our opinion it would be better to stay away from the final result, which could be influenced by the many important absentees among the guests and the fact that both play again after quite some time. On the other hand, we are on the safe side when it comes to goals: Leipzig and Bayern have two of the most prolific attacks in the league, and the total number of goals has always been high in recent matches. We expect at least one goal on each side and more than three overall.
Leipzig-Bayern Munich matchday squad
- LIPSIA (4-2-3-1): Blaswich; Simakan, Orban, Gvardiol, Halstenberg; Laimer, Schlager; Szoboszlai, Dani Olmo, Forsberg; André Silva.
- BAYERN MONACO (4-2-3-1): Sommer; Pavard, Upamecano, de Ligt, Davies; Kimmich, Goretzka; Sané, Musiala, Gnabry; Choupo-Moting.
POSSIBLE RESULT: 2-3
