Bayern Munich will continue their quest to claim top spot in the Bundesliga as they host Darmstadt at the Allianz arena tomorrow afternoon.
Bayern currently sit in 3rd place and are two points adrift from the league leaders Bayer Leverkusen.
The current champions take on a Darmstadt side that currently sit in 12th position and have picked up seven points so far.
This will be the first time that both sides have met since the 2016/17 season when Bayern won both fixtures 1-0.
Bayern are unbeaten in 12 games in all competitions, winning ten and scoring 39 goals.
Darmstadt have had a mixed first season so far back in the Bundesliga and initially endured a difficult start by picking up just one point from the opening five games, however they went on to win two games in a row against Werder Bremen and Augsburg before entering the international break.
However, they were unable to extend their winning run after the break when they lost to an impressive RB Leipzig side 3-1.
Torsten Lieberknecht’s defence will have their work cut out against a Bayern side that have a front three of Harry Kane, Kingsley Coman and Leroy Sané all on dangerously good form at the moment, especially with Darmstadt’s defence being far from solid this season, conceding 22 goals already which is the most in the division.
Darmstadt have been impressive in front of goal though as they have scored in each of their last seven games this season.
Thomas Tuchel has confirmed that Manuel Neuer will return to the starting eleven tomorrow after being injured for over 300 days with a fractured leg.
“As long as nothing happens today, he’ll play tomorrow. He’s excited, we’re excited. There’s probably a lot of other people excited about it too,” said Tuchel.
“It’s a special situation. I can feel his excitement and his class. He’s got great experience. He’s enjoying things right now and he can be proud of himself. He should enjoy it, and that will make him strong. There will be some tension. Now we hope that he can quickly find his rhythm and things are all good.”
Leon Goretzka will miss the next few weeks after having a hand operation last Sunday. Dayot Upamecano and Raphaël Guerreiro will also be out with hamstring issues whilst Serge Gnabry will be assessed after recovering from a fractured forearm and may make the matchday squad.
As for Darmstadt, Fabio Torsiello is ruled out with a hamstring injury, while Braydon Manu (ankle) and Aaron Seydel (muscle) are both doubtful and will be assessed ahead of kick off.
Matthias Bader missed the previous match against Leipzig due to illness but is likely to replace Tim Skarke in the starting lineup as the right wing back.
GGFN | Matthew Gritton
