The final matchday of this year’s Bundesliga will see the two top teams going against each other, in what will go down as one of the historic matches in the past few years. Before coming into the season, Leipzig had played ZERO Bundesliga games, yet the East Germany side have been able to prove their worth and surprised everyone to sit at the second spot in the league table. While Bayern are back to their best after a sluggish start to the season, they reclaimed their first spot in the table last week, edging past Darmstadt 1:0. These two teams will face each other on Wednesday at the Allianz Arena.
Everything points for a great encounter as Bayern have been largely slow and lethargic in their gameplay this season. Whereas, Leipzig have been fast and furious. However, the quality which the star-studded Bayern possess in their team could still matter. Both the sides have lost just once this campaign.
Despite being somewhat leaky in defence, the home side still possess the best defensive record in the league with just nine goals conceded. The injury to key players such as Arturo Vidal and Jerome Boateng played a telling factor in the Bayern camp. However, the return of players and the switch in formation paid dividends to their form in recent games.
Ancelotti’s preferred 4-3-3 formation had to be reverted to a 4-2-3-1, which allowed Thomas Muller to switch to centre attacking midfield spot, where he used his clever movements to carve out spaces for their midfielders to make use of. Evidently, the performance of the German international improved and he also scored his first goal this campaign against Wolfsburg. It would be interesting to see which formation Ancelotti applies for when his team set their sights on Leipzig.
On the flip side, Leipzig are a completely different outfit. While Bayern like to play with possession and use their firepower to breach the opposition, Leipzig prefer to play without the ball and rely on teamwork. Their ferocious tempo without the ball has been a key reason for their meteoric rise. Even though Ralph Hasenhüttl’s side play with less possession, the side still conceded the least amount of shots on target than any other team this season. (36). Indeed! Giving away just over 2 shots on target in a match is remarkable.
Leipzig have the second most xG (expected goals) ratio in the league as well as having the second last xG against! Timo Werner has been one of the best signings in the Bundesliga this term. The young forward exceeded his actual goals ratio compared to his xG ratio as he has already notched up seven goals while having xG of 4.41. Robert Lewandowski of Bayern has the most xG ratio in the league (8.44).
Team News
Carlo Ancelotti will miss the services of star defender Jerome Boateng. He is out with a muscular injury and could be away for 6-10 weeks away. American winger Julian Green is also suffering from a similar problem. Philipp Lahm didn’t feature against Darmstadt last week, due to a knock. He is set to miss out the clash against Leipzig. It might be a huge blow for Carlo Ancelotti’s side as they’ll miss such an experienced player in such a high-voltage encounter. Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery have both been in excellent form this season, but they are in doubt to feature against Leipzig.
Leipzig, on the other hand, will also have some injury issues. Most notably, new midfielder Naby Keita will miss the encounter due to a thing injury. It will no doubt be a huge blow for Ralph Hasenhüttl’s. Keita is an integral part of Leipzig’s defence and their transition. Experienced defender Marvin Compper and loan signing Kyriakos Papadopoulos are also out. Promising young fullback Lukas Klostermann remains to be a long-term absentee. He has featured in just one game this season. Left back Marcel Halstenberg is also suffering from a thigh injury.
Predicted Lineups
Bayern Munich: (4-2-3-1 formation) Manuel Neuer; Rafinha, Javi Martinez, Mats Hummels, David Alaba; Arturo Vidal, Xabi Alonso; Thiago Alcantara, Thomas Muller, Douglas Costa; Robert Lewandowski.
RB Leipzig: (4-4-2 formation) Peter Gulacsi; Bernardo, Stefan Ilsanker, Willi Orban, Benno Schmitz; Marcel Sabitzer, Diego Demme, Dominik Kaiser, Emil Forsberg; Timo Werner, Yussuf Poulsen.
Prediction: Bayern 1:2 Leipzig.
