Bayern Munich vs Darmstadt: Hosts seeking to maintain perfect home record
Bayern Munich will be seeking to maintain their 100 per cent win record at the Allianz Arena as they take on struggling side Darmstadt 98 on Saturday.
Pep Guardiola’s men have racked up ten wins out of ten on their home ground, and have scored a whopping 34 goals, which is more than the goal output of 15 other teams competing in this season’s Bundesliga. Not only have they been impressive in attack – with at least two goals in their last 11 home matches, including this season’s ten, but die Roten have been virtual impenetrable in defense, having conceded a measly three goals.
And following a 0-0 draw with Bayer Leverkusen – only the second time the reigning Bundesliga champions have failed to score all season – Guardiola will hope to see a better performance from his side ahead of their big Champions League round of 16 game versus Juventus next week.
The Spanish tactician will have to make do without quite a few key players, with Jerome Boateng, Javi Martinez, and Holger Badstuber all still on the treatment table. However, he will be pleased by the prognosis regarding Mehdi Benatia and Mario Gotze, both of whom appear to have recovered from their own injuries and may play some role in Saturday’s match. With one eye on the clash against the Bianconeri, Guardiola could opt to rotate his squad, or alternatively, make some key substitutions once Bayern have gotten the job done, so he will hope his troops will shut down Darmstadt as quickly as possible.
Fortunately for the hosts, they have an excellent record against die Lilien. They have won all but one of their past eight meetings, and the best result Darmstadt have achieved was a one-all draw back in November 1978. Meanwhile, on the opposite end of the spectrum, Dirk Schuster will be hoping his side can put more of a distance between them and the relegation candidates. Darmstadt, who are back in the top flight after a 33 year old absence, are just four points away from Werder Bremen, but have picked up six points from their past four games. More significant is the fact that these victories have been away from home, and to date, Schuster’s side have scored at least two goals in their past three away games.
Of course, this record could come to an abrupt conclusion as Bayern have managed to keep a clean sheet in their past five home games. In addition, although Schuster doesn’t have any injury worries, he will be missing five regular starters due to a ban; Konstantin Rausch, Peter Niemeyer, Jérôme Gondorf, Aytac Sulu, and Marcel Heller have too many yellow cards and will not make the trip to the Allianz Arena.
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