A Date Against Bayern is Not the Ideal Bundesliga Debut for Bjelica

Bayern Munich vs Union Berlin

Nenad Bjelica has been a football coach for a long time, but he hasn’t seen anything like the Bundesliga yet.

And he’ll definitely get to experience what it’s like to compete in the German top-flight when his new team, Union Berlin, faces defending champions Bayern Munich this weekend at the Allianz Arena.

There’s not much to expect from Die Eisernen this season, which is sad. After making it to the Champions League for the first time ever last season, Union Berlin are currently in the relegation scrap since they’re 17^th in the table.

Meanwhile, Bayern Munich are right in the title mix as usual. However, they are trailing behind red-hot Bayer Leverkusen, so they cannot take this game against a downtrodden squad like Union Berlin for granted.

Continue reading below for the SBOTOP preview of this contest.

Talking Points

Musiala and de Ligt eager to return

Jamal Musiala and Mattihjs de Ligt haven’t played in a while, and both are racing against time to be fit since their returns would certainly give an already-strong Bayern Munich a massive boost.

Musiala hasn’t played after sustaining a hamstring injury against Galatasaray in the Champions League before the international break, while de Ligt injured his right knee in their surprising 2-1 loss to Saarbruecken in the DFB-Pokal earlier this month.

Prior to the injury, Musiala recorded four goals and three assists this season, which is good for fourth in Bayern Munich’s leading scorers list. The 20-year-old is one of the best young talents in football today, as he can be effective either as a No. 10 or as a winger.

Matthijs de Ligt, on the other hand, is an important rotation defender. With him sidelined, Thomas Tuchel has been heavily reliant on Dayot Upamecano and Kim Min-Jae at the back.

And because Tuchel needed to rotate his squad against Copenhagen, their centre-half depth is poor enough that Leon Goretzka even had to play centre-back for the first time in his career.

But against Union Berlin, those things don’t matter since they have an in-form Harry Kane to mask all their problems.

As of this writing, the former Tottenham captain has 22 goals and seven assists, and we expect him back in the Bundesliga 2023 highlights reel this weekend.

Union Berlin need the new manager bounce

After suffering a 4-0 blowout loss against Bayer Leverkusen, Union Berlin decided to part ways with Urs Fischer, who was the manager responsible for helping them reach new heights.

Marco Grote became interim manager for Die Eisernen, but he didn’t last long, as they appointed Nenad Bjelica to be their next permanent manager a few days ago.

The 52-year-old Croatian international has coached nine different clubs prior to his current job, and he inherits a disjointed Union Berlin squad that’s in dire need of a spark to avoid the drop.

In Bjelica’s first game in charge, Union Berlin managed to secure a 1-1 draw against Braga in the Champions League, and the hope is that he’ll have the same result this Saturday, if not better.

History

Bayern Munich are undefeated in their eight Bundesliga encounters with Union Berlin (W5, D3).

Their most recent matchup was a 3-0 victory for the Bavarians in February, as Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting, Kingsley Coman, and Jamal Musiala unleashed a barrage of goals in the first half.

We expect more goals from the defending champions this weekend since they have scored in each of their last 63 Bundesliga home games. Bayern Munich will level the league record of 64 goals they established under Udo Lattek from 1970 to 1974 if they score again on Saturday.

The last time they were held scoreless was in February 2020, when RB Leipzig held them to a goalless draw.

Betting Tip

The Bundesliga 2023 odds are overwhelmingly in favour of Bayern Munich winning at home on Saturday. The Bavarian giants are at 1.15 odds, while an upset victory for Union Berlin is priced high at 16.00, and a draw is at 6.20 in the 1X2 market.

Anything other than a win for Bayern Munich is going to be considered a disaster because they’re in such great form and because they have a stronger squad than Union Berlin at the moment.

And they’re likely going to do it by overwhelming Die Eisernen in the final third, making Over 3.75 at 2.05 one of the best bets out there, although Total Goal 2-3 at 2.33 should be enough to get the job done for them.

 

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