Union Berlin vs Bayern Munich: Bundesliga Match Prediction and Preview

After a long wait, the Bundesliga's big boys are back in action tonight as Bayern Munich take on Union Berlin at the Stadion An der Alten Försterei.

With Borussia Dortmund having closed the gap to one point after last night’s win over FC Schalke 04, the defending league champions will be disappointed by anything other than three points tonight.

Form

Before the coronavirus pandemic halted football across Europe and the world, Bayern were in red hot form.

Die Roten had won 10 of their last 11 games in the Bundesliga. A draw against RB Leipzig on February 9 being the only blemish. Hans-Dieter Flick’s men stood at the top of the league with 55 points before the enforced break.

Union Berlin are engrossed in a mid-table battle with the likes of FC Koln, Eintracht Frankfurt and city rivals Hertha Berlin.

Urs Fischer’s men won two, drew one and suffered three defeats in their last five before the break. In that span, Die Eisernen were hammered 0-5 by Borussia Dortmund. They did, however, get the better of table competitors Frankfurt.

Union Berlin form: LWLWDL

Bayern Munich form: WDWWW

Last time out

Goals from Benjamin Pavard and Robert Lewandowski helped Bayern Munich eke past Union Berlin at the Allianz Arena in October 2019.

Bayern Munich, who were then managed by Niko Kovac, fell victim to a Sebastien Polter penalty in the 86th minute. The home side, however, held on to take three points.

The title race

With both Borussia Dortmund and Borussia Mönchengladbach winning their respective games, Hansi Flick’s men will have to be at their best.

Dortmund are the closest to Bayern Munich currently, with 54 points. Mönchengladbach are third with 52 points.

Die Roten will be relieved with RB Leipzig’s 1-1 draw with SC Freiburg as the former have been pipped to fourth place with 51 points.

A win for Bayern in the capital will help them get a two-match advantage over both Dortmund and Mönchengladbach.

Squad news

Yunus Malli of Union Berlin had tested positive for the coronavirus is not yet back to full training. Die Eisernen will also be without Sheraldo Becker (thigh injury) and Akaki Gogia (knee ligament damage). Marvin Friedrich will take no part in this game due to a suspension.

Club captain Christopher Tremmel will be back from suspension. Expect him to feature in the XI for this one.

Bayern Munich will be missing the services of Philippe Coutinho, Niklas Sule and Corentin Tolisso. Both Kingsley Coman and Ivan Perisic have recovered from their ailments and will be taking part in this match.

Key Battles

Neven Subotic vs Robert Lewandowski

Stopping Lewandowski from finding the net is a Sisyphean task. The Pole is bound the find the net in the 90 minutes. His mind-blowing record of 25 goals from 23 Bundesliga games speaks for itself.

Neven Subotic, Lewandowski’s former teammate at Dortmund, could be useful in limiting the damage done by the Pole i.e, scoring once instead of twice.

Subotic’s partnership with Mats Hummels served as the bedrock for Dortmund’s successive league titles under Jurgen Klopp. The Serbian center-back is past his prime but provides valuable experience and leadership that will galvanize Union Berlin’s defenders to make life tough for Bayern Munich’s frontline.

That being said, do not expect Subotic to stop Lewandowski from finding the net. The Pole is sure to increase his lead at the top of the Bundesliga scoring charts, as well as the European Golden Shoe.

Sebastian Andersson vs David Alaba

With 11 goals in 25 games, Swedish striker Sebastian Andersson is Union Berlin’s biggest threat in this match. A tally that has him sitting tied-fifth on the Bundesliga scoring table.

The 6’3” Swede is a physical presence who relishes in aerially dominating his opponents. Going up against a makeshift center-back in the form of David Alaba plays into Andersson’s advantage.

Alaba, at 5’11” is definitely undersized when up against Andersson. The Austrian’s tackling and defensive awareness are good enough to contain the Swede on the ground. Hansi Flick will be instructing his full-backs to prevent crosses so as to make Andersson innefective.

Christian Gentner vs Thomas Muller

Thomas Muller is no longer a perennial goal threat but his creativity has definitely gone under the radar this season.

With 16 assists in 25 games (18 starts), the German is leading the Bundesliga in that statistic with Jadon Sancho (15 assists) hot on his heels.

Muller has regained his place in the squad, fending off Coutinho. His link-up play with Lewandowski and Serge Gnabry has proved to be deadly. Bundesliga veteran Christian Gentner, therefore, will be in a tough spot tonight.

Underestimating Gentner, however, can prove to be a major mistake for Bayern Munich. The defensive midfielder is averaging close to two tackles and interceptions per game. He also comes with championship pedigree, having served as an enforcer on the 2008-09 Bundesliga winning VfL Wolfsburg side.

Muller’s brilliant supporting cast, however, gives him the edge in this duel.

Prediction

Anything other than a Bayern Munich win will be a shocking result.

With teams struggling for match fitness due to the enforced break, individual talent will be an even bigger deciding factor – ask Eintracht Frankfurt as they were undone by Alassane Plea and Marcus Thuram. In that department, Bayern are light-years ahead of Union Berlin.

The question, therefore, in this match is that how many goals will Bayern Munich score?

I expect the 25-time Bundesliga champions to win this game by a two-goal margin with Lewandowski opening the scoring. As for Union Berlin, I see them carving out a chance or two but they will not be able to beat Manuel Neuer in goal.

Predicted scoreline: Union Berlin 0-2 Bayern Munich