Break the lilies a historic negative series?
The entire fan base of FC Bayern has been waiting for this for a good ten months. On Saturday it could be so far. Manuel Neuer is expected to make his comeback in the Bundesliga 350 days after his last appearance. For the national keeper, it would be a great thing to finally be back on the pitch, but we assume that this personnel matter will have no influence on our Bayern vs Darmstadt tip.
Just once, to clarify what kind of encounter we’re talking about, we’ll stick with Manuel Neuer. The Bayern captain has 478 appearances in the Bundesliga to date. He alone has more games in the top flight under his belt than the entire Darmstadt team. All of the Lilien players have a total of just 280 Bundesliga games.
A look at the table is also unavoidable in this duel. Bayern are in third place with 20 points and at the moment continue to occupy the hunter’s role for Bayer Leverkusen and VfB Stuttgart. Perhaps they will succeed in making a leap in the standings this weekend, however, because in the Bayern vs. Darmstadt match the forecast naturally goes more than clearly in the direction of the record champion.
The Lilies are currently in twelfth place and have seven points on their account. If you promise the promoted team this ranking for the end of the season, Torsten Lieberknecht would surely sign immediately.
Bayern – statistics & current form
Third place doesn’t sound like FC Bayern can be very happy with their start to the season at first. However, since the 2015/16 season, then under Pep Guardiola, the Munich team has not reached 20 points after eight games to date. Last season, it was five points less under new national coach Julian Nagelsmann.
Bayern strong at home against promoted side
On Saturday, the good start to the season with twelve recent games without defeat is likely to be extended, as the record champion has won 29 of the last 32 home games against promoted teams. Most recently, there have been five home wins in a row against newcomers and the Munich team has always scored at least four times. It sounds like between Bayern and Darmstadt, you should look at the odds for a home win with a total of more than 4.5 goals.
Goals by Bayern are mandatory in their own arena anyway. In the last 61 home games, Bayern fans always got at least one goal to cheer. Most recently, Harry Kane was often responsible for that. The attacker has scored nine goals in eight Bundesliga games. So far, only Charly Dörfel, Paco Alcacer and Erling Haaland have managed to reach the mark of nine goals in fewer games. The 13 scorer points to this point for the Englishman, on the other hand, is a Bundesliga record since data collection began.
Bayern have been relatively struggling in their last two games. Last weekend, it was still enough to win 3:1 in the Bundesliga in Mainz. The Munich team came home from Istanbul with the same result during the week. In the Champions League, Thomas Tuchel’s team won 3:1 at Galatasaray, since still without Manuel Neuer, but was not the better team for long stretches in this encounter.
Predicted Bayern lineup:
Darmstadt – statistics & current form
Torsten Lieberknecht has made it more than clear in advance how much he is looking forward to the encounter at the Allianz Arena. Perhaps it’s the atmosphere, possibly it’s the quality of the Munich side to admire. Admittedly, it can’t be down to the sporting prospects, because the Lilien coach met Bayern five times as a player and coach and lost all the games. Not a single goal was scored by his teams in these duels.
Five defeats already under his belt
When we talk about a satisfactory twelfth place, that’s only half the truth. Five defeats after eight games are in fact the worst ever for the Hessians in the Bundesliga. Only in the 1978/79 season were there as many defeats in this period. With this record, it is hardly justifiable to make a prediction on a point win for the guests in the match Bayern vs. Darmstadt.
Maybe Tobias Kempe will score, though. In each of the last three games, the midfielder was successful via penalty kick. In the Bundesliga, only Bodo Mattern (1981) and Sandro Wagner (twice in 2016) had previously managed that in a Darmstadt jersey. If there is even another goal from the penalty spot, Tobias Kempe would be successful from the spot in four consecutive games and would equal the record holders Michael Zeyer and Jörg Dittwar.
The Lilien’s upswing was dampened last week. After victories over Werder Bremen and in Augsburg, they were beaten 3-1 by RB Leipzig at Böllenfalltor. After conceding two early goals, Tobias Kempe reduced the score and then the Hessians kept the game open for a long time before the Bullen marked the decisive 3:1 midway through the second half.
Predicted lineup of Darmstadt:
Bavaria – Darmstadt Direct comparison / H2H balance
There were times when Bayern Munich was not a top team in German soccer and it was precisely this circumstance that Darmstadt 98 knew how to exploit in December 1950 and won the first direct duel in the then Oberliga Süd with 3:2. To this day, it is the only victory of the Lilies over the Munich team. In total, 13 games are on the books. The Bavarians won eleven and once there was a draw.
Meanwhile, the star of the south comes to eight wins in a row. However, it must be said that the Hesse against the record champion have rarely really come under the wheels. The last three duels, in the DFB Cup 2015/16 and twice in the Bundesliga season 2016/17 all ended with only 1:0 in favor of FC Bayern. A narrow defeat on Saturday would probably already be considered a success for the Lilies.
Bayern – Darmstadt tip
Two soccer worlds meet in the Allianz Arena. On one side are the glamour Bavarians, who are undefeated for twelve competitive games and are playing their best season in seven years up to this point. On the other side is the promoted team from Darmstadt, which has already conceded five defeats this season and thus set its own negative record in the top flight.
Darmstadt 98 has been waiting 73 years for a win against FC Bayern. The gap between the two clubs has widened in recent decades, however, so the chances of a Lilien victory are vanishingly small.
At the Allianz Arena, it’s extremely difficult for up-and-comers. The FCB has won 29 of its last 32 home games against newcomers, with five successes in a row most recently. Against the Hessians, there are even eight wins in a row. Now you can certainly go with your bet on a handicap or also on many goals. But we have decided to play between the Bavarians and Darmstadt the betting odds on a win to zero of the hosts.
