Bayern Munich vs Hertha BSC

Hot favorites to extend an almost perfect start to the new Bundesliga season, Bayern Munich play host to out-of-sorts Hertha BSC at the Allianz Arena.

Fresh from a 12-0 thumping over lower-league outfit Bremer in midweek’s DFB-Pokal encounter, Bayern Munich will be looking to maintain their unbeaten start to the new Bundesliga season (W1, D1). After pulling off a hard-fought 3-2 home victory over Cologne last time out in response to a 1-1 draw against Borussia Monchengladbach on Matchday 1, the perennial Bundesliga champions go up against a side they’ve not lost to in any of their previous 26 top-flight meetings on home soil (W20, D6). Indeed, it’s been almost 44 years since Bayern last suffered a home Bundesliga defeat to this opposition! Additionally, the ‘Bavarians’ have turned the Allianz Arena into a fortress, as witnessed by a run of 28 top-flight fixtures here without a loss (W23, D5). That, coupled with the fact they’ve scored 3+ goals in eight of their last ten home league matches, suggests the hosts are overwhelming favorites here.

On the other hand, the visitors have begun their Bundesliga campaign with back-to-back defeats to Cologne and Wolfsburg despite scoring the opening goal on each occasion. Another disappointing league start compounded by Matheus Cunha’s departure for Atletico Madrid promises another catastrophic weekend for Hertha. Worryingly, the last time a Berlin side started a Bundesliga season with consecutive losses, they were relegated. It’s going from bad to worse for ‘Die Alte Dame’ here, given their dreadful away form in 2021 that has seen them pick up just one victory from 11 away Bundesliga matches since the turn of the year (D4, L6). With the solitary exception of a 2-1 win over last season’s rock-bottom Schalke, Hertha netted under 1.5 goals in all of the remaining ten trips during that sequence. That being said, they have scored 2+ goals in both previous Bundesliga visits to the Allianz Arena (D1, L1).