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

Bayern Munich will be looking to make it back-to-back victories at the start of their 2020-21 Bundesliga campaign when they head to Hoffenheim on Sunday afternoon.

The reigning champions put eight unanswered goals past Schalke 04 in their season opener last weekend, while Hoffenheim also started with a positive result, running out 3-2 winners at Koln.

Match preview

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Hoffenheim, as mentioned, made a positive start to their 2020-21 Bundesliga campaign last weekend, recording a 3-2 success at Koln, with Croatian forward Andrej Kramaric scoring a brilliant hat-trick.

Die Kraichgauer finished sixth in the Bundesliga last term and will therefore compete in the group stages of this season's Europa League.

There was a change of manager at the end of last season, though, with Sebastian Hoeness leaving his role with Bayern's reserve side to take on the position.

The 38-year-old will be determined to upset his former employers on Sunday afternoon, but Bayern ran out 6-0 winners when they travelled to Hoffenheim in the corresponding fixture last term.

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Bayern, as mentioned, started their title defence with a stunning 8-0 win over Schalke at the Allianz Arena last weekend, with Serge Gnabry netting a hat-trick for the champions.

Hansi Flick 's side beat Sevilla 2-1 in the UEFA Super Cup on Thursday night, meanwhile, with Javi Martinez producing the winning goal in the 104th minute of the contest in Budapest.

Bayern again proved to be far too strong for the rest of the Bundesliga last season, picking up 82 points from their 34 matches to finish 13 points clear of second-placed Borussia Dortmund.

The Munich giants have now won the German title in each of the last eight seasons, but the 2019-20 campaign proved to be particularly special as they also won the German Cup and Champions League.

It does appear that Der FCB will be the team to beat in the European Cup again this term, with the addition of Leroy Sane from Manchester City making them even stronger in the final third of the field.

Hoffenheim Bundesliga form: W

Bayern Munich Bundesliga form: W

Bayern Munich form (all competitions): WW

Team News

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Hoffenheim's injury list is fairly extensive at the moment, with Benjamin Hubner, Stefan Posch, Maximilian Beier, Konstantinos Stafylidis and Havard Nordtveit all on the sidelines.

Hoeness's side did not pick up any fresh problems against Koln last weekend, though, and it would therefore not be a surprise to see the same starting XI sent onto the field.

Kramaric will be looking to build on his treble against Koln, while Moanes Dabour and Christoph Baumgartner should also feature in the final third of the field.

As for Bayern, new signing Tanguy Kouassi will again miss out with a thigh problem, while Kingsley Coman is unlikely to be available, having been forced to quarantine due to a coronavirus scare.

There are not expected to be any surprises in the away side's XI on Sunday, with Robert Lewandowski again set to lead the line ahead of an attacking trio of Sane, Thomas Muller and Gnabry.

David Alaba should start alongside Niklas Sule in the middle of the defence, while there is likely to be a spot for Alphonso Davies at left-back despite the fact that Lucas Hernandez has started the first two matches of the season.

Hoffenheim possible starting lineup:

Baumann; Nuhu, Vogt, Bicakcic; Akpoguma, Geiger, Samassekou, Kaderabek; Dabour, Kramaric, Baumgartner

Bayern Munich possible starting lineup:

Neuer; Pavard, Sule, Alaba, Davies; Kimmich, Goretzka; Gnabry, Muller, Sane; Lewandowski

We say: Hoffenheim 1-3 Bayern Munich

Hoffenheim are certainly capable of making it a very difficult 90 minutes for Bayern, but it is so difficult to look past the champions due to their incredible attacking capabilities. We expect Flick's side to move onto six points in the league with a relatively routine victory this weekend.

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