Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich will be looking to return to winning ways when they welcome Union Berlin to the Allianz Arena on Saturday evening.
The Bavarian giants have won only two of their last five top-flight matches, while the Iron Ones have won only one of their last six league games.
Match preview
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While Bayern Munich remain strong favourites to clinch their 10th successive Bundesliga title, back-to-back 1-1 draws against Bayer Leverkusen and Hoffenheim has provided a glimmer of hope for second-placed Borussia Dortmund.
Robert Lewandowski's 29th top-flight goal of the season cancelled out Hoffenheim's opener scored by Christoph Baumgartner to rescue a point last weekend, but that result means the Bavarian outfit now sit just four points above Dortmund with eight games remaining, including a fixture between the two teams at the Allianz Arena next month.
Bayern's exceptionally high standards have recently taken a dip, as they have won only three of their last seven games across all competitions.
While Bayern have not lost any of their previous five meetings against Union Berlin, hopes of Julian Nagelsmann's side returning to winning ways on Saturday are not guaranteed, as they have failed to beat the Iron Ones in two of their last three league encounters.
Bayern will extend their winless Bundesliga run to three matches for the first time since November 2018 if they fail to claim all three points this weekend.
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Union Berlin's inconsistent run of form has continued after they followed up their 1-0 loss at Wolfsburg with a disappointing 1-1 draw at home against relegation-threatened Stuttgart last weekend.
Taiwo Awoniyi scored his 16th goal of the season when he converted from the penalty spot four minutes before half time, but the Iron Ones were unable to hold on for three points as Sasa Kalajdzic netted a 90th-minute equaliser to force both sides to share the spoils.
Urs Fischer's men have slipped down to eighth in the Bundesliga table, six points behind Hoffenheim in sixth, who currently occupy the final European qualification spot.
Union Berlin have struggled away from home so far this season, accumulating only 13 points from as many league matches. They can, however, take confidence from their last visit to the Allianz Arena where they claimed a 1-1 draw in April last season, with Marcus Ingvartsen scoring an 85th-minute equaliser.
The Iron Ones will be seeking revenge against Bayern on Saturday, after the latter secured a 5-2 victory in the reverse fixture earlier this season.
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Team News
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Bayern Munich centre-back Niklas Sule has been ruled out for up to four weeks with a hamstring injury, and will likely miss their quarter-final ties in the Champions League next month.
Dayot Upamecano is set to start as a result, joining fellow Frenchman Benjamin Pavard and Lucas Hernandez in the back three.
The hosts are also sweating over the fitness of Lewandowski, who has sustained a minor knee injury, but the 33-year-old returned to training this week so he should be fit to feature in attack.
Leon Goretzka (knee), Corentin Tolisso (hamstring) and Alphonso Davies (heart condition) are all nearing returns to first-team action, but Saturday's game will come too soon for them.
Nagelsmann is unlikely to make too many changes to his midfield and attack, with the likes of Serge Gnabry, Thomas Muller, Leroy Sane and Kingsley Coman all expected to start once again.
As for Union Berlin, they are hoping to welcome back Andreas Luthe, Kevin Behrens, Levin Oztunali and Genki Haraguchi, who were all sidelined last week with coronavirus.
Keita Endo could also return from a knee injury, but Grischa Promel is suspended due to an accumulation of yellow cards.
The absence of Promel could see Kevin Mohwald handed a start in centre-midfield, while Frederik Ronnow may continue between the sticks if Luthe is not deemed fit to play.
Awoniyi is expected to lead the line again, with support provided in attack by strike partner Sheraldo Becker.
Bayern Munich possible starting lineup:
Neuer; Pavard, Upamecano, Hernandez; Kimmich, Musiala; Gnabry, Muller, Sane, Coman; Lewandowski
Union Berlin possible starting lineup:
Ronnow; Heintz, Knoche, Baumgartl; Giesselmann, Haraguchi, Khedira, Mohwald, Trimmel; Becker, Awoniyi
We say: Bayern Munich 3-1 Union Berlin
Union Berlin have caused problems for Bayern Munich countless times in previous meetings, and we expect the visitors to get on the scoresheet this weekend.
However, the hosts will be fired up in a bid to turn their fortunes around and their elite attackers possess all the qualities required to outscore their opponents.
Top tip
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Bayern Munich win with a probability of 82.78%. A draw had a probability of 11.3% and a win for Union Berlin had a probability of 5.95%.
The most likely scoreline for a Bayern Munich win was 3-0 with a probability of 10.93%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (10.93%) and 4-0 (8.2%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (5.24%), while for a Union Berlin win it was 1-2 (1.88%). The actual scoreline of 4-0 was predicted with an 8.2% likelihood. Our team at Sports Mole and our data analysis both correctly predicted that Bayern Munich would win this match.
