AEK Athens vs Bayern Munich Predictions

Bayern Munich ended their poor run of form with a 3-1 victory at Wolfsburg on Saturday. It’s been a far from  strong start by the Bundesliga champions, who sit third in the league. Their usually relentless push for silverware hasn’t been present in the early stages of the 2018/19 campaign, and Niko Kovac has to be under pressure following a run of just one win in five. He takes his side to Greece this week, as the Germans look to bounce back from a slip in their last Champions League clash.

AEK Athens are also in third place as they try to defend their title. They head into this encounter on the back of a rotten start to this group stage campaign, having lost two from two. A defeat at home to Bayern would all but knock them out of the competition, with two big defeats leaving them significantly off the pace. They were solid in the qualifiers, but losses to Ajax and Benfica have left them rock bottom. With a double header against Bayern up next, the Super League side need to raise their game.

Bayern haven’t made that great of a start in Europe, with a 2-0 win over Benfica and a 1-1 draw with Ajax. The Dutch side have emerged as a contender to make the last 16 after that point, and they sit top of Group E after the opening two matches. Bayern seem to be making too much work out of this group early on. Having landed three sides who went through the qualifiers – including two who did it without winning their league last term – Bayern should have been racing away with first place. However, they make this trip to Athens facing a must win game.

Bayern’s away form in this competition is impressive, so they should expect to get something away from the side who have lost their opening two. AEK have conceded three times in each of their first three, while Bayern’s scoring form in this competition is great. They have hit two or more goals in their last six away trips in the Champions League, and in 10 of their last 11. However, in that time they’ve only kept a single clean sheet. In fact, in 15 away trips in Europe, Bayern have conceded in 14 of them.

AEK have seen both teams score in five of their last six matches in this competition, and they should get forward here. Having conceded in their last five games, we expect Bayern’s defence to be breached here. Both teams to score is our tip, along with a 2-1 away win for the German champions.