FC Bayern travel to the Rhein-Neckar-Arena

It is clear to see that the reigning German champions are not meeting expectations having only taken 5 points from their first 4 games. Sitting in 9th place in the league and 7 points behind the leaders Mainz (12) the Bavarian's are anything but happy at the moment. Manager Louis van Gaal clarifies the situation: "We are a top team, we need to be further up the table." He is hoping the upward climb will start against Hoffenheim. It will not be an easy task given that Ralf Rangnick's team have made a near perfect start to the season. The youthful team have already taken 10 points from their first 4 games, which has filled Kraichgau will confidence. "As a young team it's very encouraging to be near the top of the table", stated captain Andreas Beck.

Success from control

Hoffenheim will not be presenting an over confident or cocky attitude against Bayern. The players are all too aware of how dangerous they can be. As bad as the table may make it seem, Bayern have not been performing badly. In the 0-0 draw against Köln Bayern controlled the match with 77% possession and the 21 shots on goal speak for themselves. "Bayern have not played badly. The 0-0 against Bremen was a great game. Plus they have still started better than they did last season", explained Rangnick. The only thing missing is the final product. Thomas Müller and co. are not putting away their chances, potentially due to the extended summer period for some of the players. Captain Andreas Beck believes this might have had a part to play in the champions' poor start to the season: "They didn't have as much time to prepare as we did."

"Controlled attacking football" is the motto that Hoffenheim want to employ as the look to take all 3 points at in front of their home support. "We have to be patient, compact, hard in the tackle and dangerous in front of goal." That is the key to beating a hungry FC Bayern in the eyes of Andreas Beck. "We have to win, there is no other option", an opinion underlined by Bayern centre-back Holger Badstuber. Ralf Rangnick knows that his team are capable of overcoming the German champions. "We have to play to the best of our ability if we want to take anything from the game." FCB are undoubtedly the hardest team that his young side have come up against. "In our first four matches we have not maintained the high level of performance over the whole 90 minutes, but we have to against Bayern. Hopefully that will change tomorrow", explained Rangnick.

Change in personnel possible

Whether Hoffenheim will begin with the same starting line-up remains to be seen. Question marks still surround the involvement of Tom Starke, Sejad Salihovic and Vedad Ibisevic. Hoffenheims' number 1 is still struggling with a slight muscle tear, Salihovic has been complaining of back problems, while Ibisevic took a blow to the ankle against Kaiserslautern. Rangnick does not have to worry too much about finding adequate replacements. Gylfi Sigurdsson, Sebastian Rudy or Boris Vukcevic are all capable of making the step up into the first team. Rangnick also only had positive words to say about back-up goalkeeper Daniel Haas: "Daniel is ready everyday to train his hardest and he is undoubtedly one of the fittest players in the squad. We can rely on him completely if needed."

Facts and stats

Hoffenheim are winless against FC Bayern in the Bundesliga but at the same time remain the only current Bundesliga team that the men from Munich have yet to beat (2 games, 2 draws). Following their poor start to the season Louis van Gaal's men find themselves without a goal in their last 270 minutes of competitive football. If Hoffenheim can keep them at bay for 74 minutes at the Rhein-Neckar-Arena, Bayern will have experienced their longest period without a goal in the Bundesliga. The record currently stands at 343 minutes. It should be a tight affair given that both teams can boast the strongest defence in the league having only conceded 3 goals each.