Bayern Munich vs Hoffenheim prediction: GERMANY: Bundesliga betting tips on match 2024-01-11 19:30.
Bayern Munich approach the second half of the 2023/2024 Bundesliga campaign in deep mourning as club legend Franz Beckenbauer, who was responsible for the club's rise to global stardom, passed away this week at the age of 78. Winning four German championships and four European Cups as a player in the 1970s, "Der Kaiser" further helped his home club as interim coach and led them to both a Bundesliga title in 1994 and to victory in the UEFA Cup in 1996, alongside also leading Germany to the World Cup title in 1974 as captain and again in 1990 as manager – one of just three people to win the tournament as both a player and manager.
The hosts have already collected 38 points this season, a tally which makes them the best second-placed team after 16 rounds in Bundesliga history as they still closely follow in the footsteps of Bayer Leverkusen. There’s reason to believe that they could close the gap at the top here further, as Bayern are the only league team on home soil to have won their last five games, whilst they also possess a strong H2H home record (W11, D3, L1).
Visitors Hoffenheim will arrive at the Allianz Arena hoping to cause an upset though, as manager Pellegrino Mattarazzo looks to extend his unbeaten personal H2H in the process (D3). So far this season, his side have secured the most away wins (5) and the most away points (16) at this point of a Bundesliga campaign in club history, which should only serve as a confidence boost.
After a decent start to the season when they recorded six wins across their first nine league games, Hoffenheim struggled in the lead up to the winter break, managing just one victory in seven. Despite that, “Die Kraichgauer” remain in the hunt for European qualification this campaign, but they’ll need to improve upon their tally of just one clean sheet in 16 Bundesliga attempts here if they’re to claim an unlikely positive result.
Players to watch: Manuel Neuer sits just one appearance away from 500 competitive games for Bayern and will hope to improve on his record of just two clean sheets in his last eleven H2Hs. For Hoffenheim, joint top scorer (G6) Maximilian Beier has now gone goalless across his last seven Bundesliga games.
Hot stat: Bayern have scored at least once in 42 consecutive Bundesliga games, whilst Hoffenheim have also achieved that feat in each of their last 20 outings – the two longest such scoring runs in the competition.