10′ Bayern’s extraodinary run of goals scored in league competitions is extended further. They have now notched a league-high total of 68 Bundesliga strikes in 2020 – Dortmund are a distant second with 50.
8′ GOAL!! MULLER PUTS BAYERN AHEAD! Just like that, Bayern flick a switch and carve their way through the lines with a series of slick one-twos. Lewandowski releases Muller into the box and the German unselfishly squares towards Coman for a tap-in, but the pass is blocked and ricochets back to his feet. Muller then takes a touch and calmly fires into the top-right corner past the onrushing goalkeeper! It’s 1-0 to Bayern!
7′ It’s been very patient from Bayern so far as they work the ball around slowly and methodically in search of openings. No real sense of urgency just yet.
5′ Tolisso sends the ball into the middle and Muller meets it at the near post, but his flicked header comes off a Bielefeld defender and the ball is cleared away.
3′ NO PENALTY! A lovely long ball over the top sees Gnabry get in behind down the right. The winger controls the ball in the box and is bundled over from behind before Lucoqui puts the loose ball out for a corner, but the referee isn’t interested in awarding a spot-kick despite Gnabry’s incredulous protestations!
1′ We’re underway in Bielefeld!
Meanwhile, Bayern have only dropped seven points across their last 43 Bundesliga games against promoted sides (W40 D2 L1), scoring in every single match (133 goals). Additionally, they have only failed to score in two league games since October 2018, scoring 189 goals across 64 games – more than any other side across Europe’s top five leagues during this time.
Bielefeld are still unbeaten at home in all competitions in 2020 (W8 D2) and have kept a clean sheet in all eight of these wins. However, they last took points off Bayern in the Bundesliga in 2006, having lost each of their last five league meetings, scoring once and conceding eight.
Meanwhile, Bayern head coach Hansi Flick makes four alterations from the team’s last Bundesliga fixture, a 4-3 win over Hertha Berlin. Chris Richards and Joshua Kimmich are not in the matchday squad, while Boateng and Davies feature on the bench. Pavard, Sule, Tolisso and Coman are all drafted into the side in their places.
Bielefeld boss Uwe Neuhaus makes three changes from his side’s 1-0 defeat to Werder Bremen last time out. Cordova drops to the bench, while Cedric Brunner and Cebio Soukou miss out altogether. De Medina, Kunze and Gebauer come into the side.
Bayern Munich substitutes: Alexander Nubel, Alphonso Davies, Marc Roca, Jamal Musiala, Javi Martinez, Jerome Boateng, Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting, Douglas Costa, Bouna Sarr.
Bayern Munich XI (4-2-3-1): Manuel Neuer; Benjamin Pavard, Niklas Sule, David Alaba, Lucas Hernandez; Correntin Tolisso, Leon Goretzka; Serge Gnabry, Thomas Muller, Kingsley Coman; Robert Lewandowski.
Arminia Bielefeld substitutes: Jacob Laursen, Sergio Cordova, Oscar Linner, Nils Seufert, Sven Schipplock, Joan Simun Edmundsson, Reinhold Yabo, Brian Behrendt, Joakim Nilsson.
Arminia Bielefeld XI (4-2-3-1): Stefan Ortega Moreno; Nathan de Medina, Amos Pieper, Mike van der Hoorn, Anderson-Lenda Lucoqui; Fabian Kunze, Manuel Prietl; Christian Gebauer, Ritsu Doan, Marcel Hartel; Fabian Klos.
Last season’s second-tier champions host the winners of the top flight after a solid – if unspectacular – start to life in the Bundesliga, picking up four points from their first three games. Meanwhile, Bayern have already suffered a defeat and will be keen to return to the upper reaches of the table from where they sit in seventh – albeit with tonight’s game in hand.
Hello and welcome to our LIVE coverage of the Bundesliga fixture between Arminia Bielefeld and Bayern Munich at Bielefelder Alm.
