Bayern Munich vs Werder Bremen Predictions, Betting Tips, & Match Preview

Bayern Munich’s competitive season under new manager Carlo Ancelotti has been promising so far. Bayern Munich kicked off the weekend before last with the Super Cup against old rivals Borussia Dortmund. Dortmund had more chances and slightly more possession than Munich, uncommon for this matchup, but goals from midfielder Arturo Vidal and center forward Thomas Muller saw Ancelotti’s Bayern take away their first piece of silverware with a 2-0 win. Munich were impenetrable at the back and goalkeeper Manuel Neuer more than earnt his paycheck in his performance. Munich also took on Carl Zeiss Jena, a German fourth tier side, last Friday in the DFB Pokal (German League Cup) first round. Ancelotti rested a few players, such as newly signed centre back Mats Hummels, but nonetheless Bayern were dominant and eased a 5-0 win.

SV Werder Bremen couldn’t have asked for a more difficult opening match than this after their poor start to the competitive season in the DFB Pokal. Bremen were knocked out of the cup in the first round against 3. Liga side Sportfreunde Lotte with a 2-1 defeat last Sunday and winger Fin Bartels got himself suspended in the process with a straight red card. To make matters worse, Werder Bremen are also suffering from a bit of an injury epidemic. Veteran star striker Claudio Pizarro (14 goals over 28 appearances last season) will be forced to sit this one out with a muscle injury and newly signed forward Max Kruse from Wolfsburg is also out for the foreseeable future. Further injury concerns are covered in our team news below.

Ancelotti does have a few injury concerns of his own heading into this match, but, unlike Werder Bremen, he has a far superior squad to select from. Bayern Munich will likely play their typical 4-3-3 formation with Lewandowski centered between Thomas Muller and Frank Ribery as they did against Borussia Dortmund in the Super Cup. Bayern Munich are huge favourites for the opening match at home, which is unsurprising given Bayern Munich have won the last thirteen meetings between the two sides, so there’s not much value in the market for them to win unless adding them to an accumulator. Instead, we feel the value for the home side here is in their solid defence. Bayern Munich have, potentially, the best defensive lineup in the world with Alaba, Hummels, Boateng, and Lahm as the back four. Not to mention world number one Manuel Neuer between the sticks. Bayern Munich kept clean sheets in three of their last five competitive home matches – Bayern had already won the title in the two where they conceded – and Bayern Munich have won to nil in their last five meetings against Bremen, scoring an average of 3.6 goals per game against them. Bremen were also the first team since data collection from the 1993/1994 season to play a full 90 minutes without even an attempt on goal when they were defeated 6-0 to Bayern Munich in 2014.

Hence, over 2.5 goals and both teams NOT to score at 6/4 and Bayern Munich to win 4-0 at 7/1 with bet365 are our choice bets for this match.