Preview: Bayern Munich vs. Augsburg - prediction, team news, lineups

The visitors were involved in a 4-4 thriller against Borussia Monchengladbach on the opening matchday.

Match preview

Despite losing 3-0 to RB Leipzig in the DFL-Supercup, Bayern bounced back to record a comfortable 4-0 victory away to Werder Bremen in the 2023-24 Bundesliga season's curtain-raiser last Friday.

England striker Harry Kane made his first start for the club following his circa £100m move from Tottenham Hotspur earlier this month, and he wasted no time in terms of making an impact by assisting Leroy Sane within the opening four minutes.

Despite dominating the encounter, Thomas Tuchel's side had to wait until the 74th minute to double their lead, with Kane bagging his first goal for the Bavarians with a deflected effort from inside the penalty area.

Sane scored another in the final minute of normal time before Mathys Tel added gloss to his side's victory by scoring from the bench deep into injury time, and Tuchel will be expecting a similarly comfortable victory against their local rivals at the Allianz Arena on Sunday.

Despite also scoring four goals themselves on the opening matchday, Augsburg did not manage to claim all three points, with Gladbach snatching a point seven minutes into injury time.

Augsburg boss Enrico Maassen and his players would have had mixed emotions regarding the result considering that they had twice come from two goals behind before Ruben Vargas's 76th-minute strike gave them the lead for the first time during the encounter, but Tomas Cvancara coolly converted his penalty under plenty of pressure.

As has usually been the case since he took over as manager last summer, Maassen deployed an extremely attacking 4-2-2-2 formation featuring four out-and-out attackers. This included debutant Sven Michel, who levelled the proceedings on the stroke of half-time.

The former Borussia Dortmund assistant manager may have his eyes on shoring things up defensively with his team set to face the toughest possible test in German football, but he will hope to replicate their threat in transition and claim a major scalp.

Bayern Munich Bundesliga form:

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W

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L

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Bayern Munich form (all competitions):

L

W

W

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L

W

Augsburg Bundesliga form:

D

W

L

L

L

D

Augsburg form (all competitions):

L

L

D

W

L

D

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Team News

Bayern appear to have lost Jamal Musiala to a hamstring injury, which the attacking midfielder sustained against Werder Bremen, leading to him being withdrawn for Thomas Muller - who will surely replace his much younger compatriot from the start on Sunday - after 84 minutes.

Bouna Sarr, Raphael Guerreiro, Gabriel Marusic and Manuel Neuer all remain sidelined themselves, meaning Sven Ulreich is set to continue to deputise between the posts.

Benjamin Pavard is reportedly struggling with illness and may have been unlikely to be involved in any case with his transfer to Inter Milan edging closer to completion.

Augsburg, meanwhile, have a host of injury problems themselves, with Jeffrey Gouweleeuw, Irvin Cardona, Arne Maier, Reece Oxford, Masaya Okugawa, Renato Veiga and Raphael Framberger all unlikely to make the brief trip to Munich.

Irvin Cardona remains a doubt due to illness, while Robert Gumny is still suspended after his straight red card towards the end of last season.

Arne Engels deputised at right-back due to Maassen's lack of available options in that area of the pitch, which in turn leaves him shy of defensive midfield solutions, meaning the 39-year-old may have no choice but to go with an offensive side once again.

Bayern Munich possible starting lineup:

Ulrich; Mazraoui, Upamecano, Kim, Davies; Kimmich, Goretzka; Sane, Muller, Coman; Kane

Augsburg possible starting lineup:

Dahmen; Engels, Bauer, Uduokhai, Pedersen; Rexhbecaj, Dorsch; Vargas, Demirovic; Michel, Berisha

We say: Bayern Munich 4-0 Augsburg

Augsburg appeared wide open defensively during their draw against Gladbach, with the likes of Kane, Sane and Kingsley Coman likely to be licking their lips at the prospect of coming up against them this weekend.

Although the loss of Musiala through injury could have a minor impact on the hosts' offensive fluidity, we still expect them to ease to a heavy victory in the end.

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