The 2019-2020 Bundesliga season kicks off on Friday, when defending champions Bayern Munich take on Hertha Berlin at Allianz Arena. Last season Bayern defeated Hertha 1-0 in Munich with a goal from Javi Martinez, but they lost the reverse fixture 2-0 and needed an extra-time goal from Kingsley Coman to defeat the Berliners in the German Cup. Bayern have won fourteen of the last twenty games against Hertha, and have not lost at home agains the Berlin side in the last twenty matches.
Bayern Munich are looking to secure a record-breaking eighth consecutive Bundesliga title this season, they have dominated German football and have missed out on the title just twice in the last ten seasons. This summer they managed to secure new players that surely add quality to the squad: central defender Lucas Hernandez from Atletico Madrid, defender Benjamin Pavard from VfB Stuttgart and winger Ivan Perisic from Inter Milan. However, they lost several very important players as well: Mats Hummels joined Borussia Dortmund, James Rodriguez returned to Real Madrid, Franck Ribery was released and Arjen Robben decided to hang up his boots. Ivan Perisic won't be able to make his debut for his new team because he carries a suspension from Serie A.
Hertha Berlin had a rather anonymous campaign last season, they finished 11th in the Bundesliga, their first finish outside the top ten in four years. This summer they spent almost 32 million euros on new players, they bought winger Dodi Lukebakio from Watford for 20 million euros, Eduard Lowen from Nuremberg for 7 million euros, Daishawn Redan from Chelsea for just over 2 million euros and midfielder Marko Grujic on loan from Liverpool for another 2 million euros. They sold right midfielder Valentino Lazaro for 22 million euros to Inter Milan, but overall their squad seems stronger this year. Marvin Plattenhardt, Arne Maier, Javairo Dilrosun and Peter Pekarik are all injured and will miss the season opener.
Probable line-ups:
Bayern: Neuer - Kimmich, Sule, Pavard, Alaba - Muller, Alcantara, Goretzka - Gnabry, Lewandowski, Coman
Hertha: Jarstein - Klunter, Rekik, Stark, Mittelstadt - Duda, Darida - Kalou, Lukebakio, Grujic - Ibisevic
My prediction:
Bayern will be looking to kick off the season in full force, I expect a 2-0 victory for the home side.
Here are the odds for the match at NetBet:
Bayern win - 1.19
Draw - 7.00
Hertha win - 14.75
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Comments (1)
Dzile10
08/15/19, 01:08:51 PM
Finally, we can enjoy Bundesliga, Bayern needs new players if they want a good result in CL this year. Many teams are better than them at the moment.
