Bayern München vs Hannover 96 – Bundesliga – Preview

Bayern München vs Hannover 96 – Saturday, December 2, 14:30GMT/15:30CET – Allianz Arena, Munich, Germany

Bayern München vs Hannover 96 will take place at the Allianz Arena in Munich on Wednesday (Photo by Lennart Preiss/Bongarts/Getty Images)

After losing to Borussia Mönchengladbach on matchday 13, Bayern München are looking to bounce straight back with a victory against newly promoted Hannover 96. Previously unbeaten in eight straight games under Jupp Heynckes Bayern, however, for the first time showed signs that they are no longer possess the dominance of recent years.

Ahead of the Gladbach game Bayern already struggled midweek in the Champions League against RSC Anderlecht. Although the Bavarians won that game, 2-1, Bayern looked lost at times. To make matters worse key players Arjen Robben and Thiago had to leave the game early and missed the game against Gladbach. Without the key players, Bayern struggled to get their wing play going and only challenged Gladbach in the second half effectively.

Both Thiago and Robben will miss the game against Hannover 96 on the weekend, but Thomas Müller and Kingsley Coman will return for the game against Hannover. On top of Müller and Coman James will also be available against Hannover and with all the top players returning Bayern will be a force at home at the Allianz Arena.

Hannover 96 in the meantime come off the back of a 1-1 draw against VfB Stuttgart. Die Roten started well into the Bundesliga season and even topped the league at some point. Injuries to Ihlas Bebou and Jonathas, however, have somewhat slowed the progress and H96 are currently tenth on the table. Given the drop in form, the game against Bayern comes at the possibly worst time. Hannover have not beaten Bayern since April 2011 and Bayern will be favourites to continue their perfect run against the visitors from Lower Saxony on Saturday.

Bayern München vs Hannover 96 – Players to look out for:

Thomas Müller #25 – Bayern München

Thomas Müller will make his return on Saturday against Hannover 96. The forward has been fit for some time already, but head coach Jupp Heynckes opted to take his time with returning Müller to the starting formation to ensure that Müller will not suffer an injury setback. Müller has pushed for an earlier re-integration into the starting line-up and will, therefore, be highly motivated when the game kicks off on Saturday afternoon.

Thomas Müller will return to action on Saturday. (Photo by Alexander Hassenstein/Bongarts/Getty Images)

Salif Sané #20 – Hannover 96

Salif Sané was the man of the match last Friday. Since the club’s relegation a year and a half ago the Senegalese defender has established himself as the club’s leader. A tall and strong defender Sané also has formidable technical skills and will be asked to keep together Hannover’s defence against a Bayern side that will come out in full force on Saturday to make their fans forget the recent defeat against Gladbach.

Salif Sané was the man of the match against Stuttgart. (Photo by Stuart Franklin/Bongarts/Getty Images)

Bayern München vs Hannover 96 – Match Stats

• Hannover have lost nine games in a row against Bayern—a negative record for the club.
• Arjen Robben loves to play against Hannover—the Dutch winger scored six goals and collected four assists in eight games against Hannover.
• On average Robben collected a scorer point every 61 minutes against Hannover.
• Bayern’s record at home against Hannover is W24 D2 L1.

Futbolgrad Network Prediction: Bayern München vs Hannover 96 – 2-0

Bayern München vs Hannover 96 – Lineups

Bayern München:

Formation: 4-2-3-1

Ulreich – Kimmich, Süle, Hummels, Rafinha – Javi Martínez, Vidal – James, Müller, Coman – Lewandowski

Head Coach: Jupp Heynckes

Hannover 96:

Formation: 3-4-3

Tschauner – Sorg, Anton, Sané – Korb, Schwegler, Bakalorz, Ostrzolek – Harnik, Klaus – Füllkrug

Head Coach: André Breitenreiter

Manuel Veth is the owner and Editor in Chief of the Futbolgrad Network. He also works as a freelance journalist and social media editor at Bundesliga.com. He holds a Doctorate of Philosophy in History from King’s College London, and his thesis is titled: “Selling the People’s Game: Football’s transition from Communism to Capitalism in the Soviet Union and its Successor States,” which will be available in print soon. Originally from Munich, Manuel has lived in Amsterdam, Kyiv, Moscow, Tbilisi, London, and currently is located in Victoria BC, Canada.  Follow Manuel on Twitter @ManuelVeth.