Wolfsburg vs Bayern Munich Preview & Prediction | 2024-25 German Bundesliga
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On the back of having seen their 12-year unbroken reign as Bundesliga champions ended by Bayer Leverkusen earlier this year, Bayern Munich begin the quest to regain their crown under new boss Vincent Kompany away at Wolfsburg.
KICK-OFF DATE/TIME: Sunday August 25th 2024: UK – 2:30pm / US ET – 9:30am / US PT – 6:30am
HOW TO WATCH ON TV: UK – Sky Sports / US – Some matches will be televised on ESPN channels so it is worth checking their schedules
HOW TO WATCH ONLINE: UK – Sky Go / US – ESPN+
WOLFSBURG PREVIEW: HOSTS OUT TO CONTINUE GROWTH UNDER HASENHUTTL IN 2024-25
After parting ways with Niko Kovac back in March, Wolfsburg moved to appoint former RB Leipzig and Southampton boss Ralph Hasenhuttl as their new head coach. The Austrian led his new club to a 12th-place finish, four points above the bottom three, a satisfactory outcome when considering how little time he had to work with his players.
Now though, a club of Wolfsburg stature and size will want to see significant progress and no more flirtations with relegation. Instead, European football has to be the aim with a squad that boasts plenty of proven performers at this level.
BAYERN MUNICH PREVIEW: UNPROVEN KOMPANY WITH BIG JOB AHEAD WITH FAILURE NOT AN OPTION
Following 11 consecutive Bundesliga titles, Bayern Munich were dealt an almighty shock in 2023-24 when they were not only beaten to the Meisterschale, but didn’t lay a glove on eventual champions Bayer Leverkusen. To make matters even worse, the Rekordmeister finished in third-place behind Stuttgart, a club who had competed in the relegation play-off in the season prior.
Despite reaching the semi-finals of the Champions League, where they were controversially knocked out by Real Madrid, Thomas Tuchel was never going to keep his job after such a poor domestic campaign, which also saw Bayern knocked out of the DFB-Pokal by third-tier opposition. However, there was plenty of surprise at the identity of his replacement, Burnley head coach Vincent Kompany, whose Clarets had just been relegated from the Premier League.
WOLFSBURG TEAM NEWS: PAREDES FOOT INJURY A HUGE BLOW FOR WOLFSBURG
Wolfsburg are expected to be without USA international Kevin Paredes, which is a big problem for Hasenhuttl, who no doubt saw Paredes as key part of his plans for this opening league match. Paredes is one of several players missing for the hosts including Kevin Behrens and Joakim Maehle.
PREDICTED XI: (3-4-3): Grabara; Jenz, Bornauw, Zesiger; Baku, Svanberg, Arnold, Kaminski; Wimmer, Wind, Majer
UNAVAILABLE: Amoura (Injured), Angely (Fitness), Behrens (Injured), Białek (Injured), Maehle (Injured), Nmecha (Injured), Paredes (Injured), Rogerio (Injured), Vranckx (Injured)
QUESTIONABLE: Odogu (Injured)
BAYERN MUNICH TEAM NEWS: SANE AND STANISIC OUT, PALHINHA COULD MAKE BUNDESLIGA DEBUT
After having returned from a hugely successful season-long loan at Bayer Leverkusen, it remains to be seen as to whether Josip Stanisic will play a role for Bayern Munich under Vincent Kompany, but either way, injury rules him here. Leroy Sane is also absent, along with new signing Hiroki Ito.
PREDICTED XI: (4-2-3-1): Neuer; Kimmich, Kim, Upamecano, Davies; Palhinha, Laimer; Gnabry, Muller, Musiala; Kane
UNAVAILABLE: Ito (Injured), Peretz (Injured), Sane (Injured), Stanisic (Injured)
QUESTIONABLE:
WOLFSBURG VS BAYERN MUNICH PREDICTION
Motivation for Bayern Munich simply could not be higher following the disaster of last season and losing their vice-like grip on the Bundesliga. They know the importance of making a fast start and racking up as many points as a possible early on, so slipping up here in Vincent Kompany’s first game simply cannot be allowed to happen.
There are still question marks over Bayern Munich defensively and adapting to Kompany’s style of play will take time, so it would be no surprise to see him not have things their own way in certain periods of this game. But over the course of 90 minutes, Bayern should wind up too strong for Wolfsburg.
WOLFSBURG VS BAYERN MUNICH TIP: BAYERN MUNICH TO WIN
