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17 minutes into the Pokal clash against Stuttgart, Bastian Schweinsteiger walked off the pitch, clearly in pain. Dr Muller-Wohlfahrt confirmed that the midfielder had sustained ligament damage in his ankle. There is no definite date set on Schweinsteiger’s return to action.
On the other hand, Kaiserslautern lost striker Dorge Kouemaha to injury for six months. Martin Amedick recently left the club. Losing a player for such a long period to injury for a club which is just above the relegation zone is a huge blow.
Form
Bayern’s form in the last three matches has been patchy despite two victories. They drew against HSV in the Bundesliga, a club they had outscored by 11 goals in the previous two meetings prior to this one. The victory against Stuttgart however showed glimpses of the brilliant Bayern of the first half.
Jupp Heynckes placed Arjen Robben on the bench to restore team chemistry on the pitch and his decision paid off. He brought Toni Kroos back into the hole behind the striker. He also used Luiz Gustavo in defensive midfield. When Schweinsteiger was taken off, David Alaba was introduced next to Gustavo and did a marvelous job.
Kaiserslautern’s form has been patchy as well. They lost to Köln 0-1, a team that has not beaten them in 25 years at the Betze. The two prior results in the league were both draws as well. Marco Kurtz’s side currently requires wins to stay up. Draws will only drag them downwards.
These are the last three results of the teams:
Stuttgart 0-2 Bayern
Hamburg 1-1 Bayern
Bayern 2-0 Wolfsburg
FCK 0-1 Köln
Augsburg 2-2 FCK
FCK 0-0 Bremen
Previous Meetings
In the reverse fixture this season, Bayern knocked in three past Kaiserslautern at the Betze with no reply. Mario Gomez scored a hat-trick. One of his goals came from the penalty spot. Another came after he put the ball into the net after his shot from the penalty spot was parried away.
In the two meetings last season, Kaiserslautern got the better of Bayern at the Betze. They won 2-0 with goals from Ivo Ilicevic and Srdjan Lakic, both players who ply their trade elsewhere currently. In the second meeting at the Allianz Arena, Bayern took their revenge with a 5-1 victory which included a Mario Gomez hat-trick.
Winner
So, who do you think will win this match? Based on current form, Bayern should take all three points.
