The three points against Slovan Bratislava were not enough for Bayern Munich to skip the next stage of the Champions League and they will have to play two extra matches. But before that, they have work to do in the Bundesliga, starting with a seemingly easy fixture against Holstein Kiel.
Winning the Champions League will always be a goal for the Bavarians, but we could argue that winning the Bundesliga matters more this season. Bayern Munich are doing everything they can to pull away with the points as quickly as possible and deny Bayer Leverkusen any chance of defending their title.
So far, the Bavarians have just one loss in the Bundesliga, which came in December to Mainz. But since then, Vincent Kompany's side have won five in a row and are the only team in the league with such an achievement. Their next target is a team from the bottom of the table, Holstein Kiel. Before we discuss their performance, we can mention a chilling statistic. Bayern Munich haven't lost points at home against a Bundesliga debutant since 1978.
The Storks are hurtling towards a return to the lower flight, being the team with the worst defence in the league. They have conceded as many as 48 goals in 19 rounds, which equates to an average of 2.53 goals conceded per game. There's not much point in comparing them, but we'll still point out that Bayern Munich have the best defence and have only conceded 16 goals. Holstein Kiel are also one of two teams without an away win this season.
How the bookies view it: Only one team has odds
Once again, we see spectacular differences in the odds in a match involving Bayern Munich. We still have to say that the Bavarians are available with 1/20. Holstein Kiel have 25/1 and the draw is priced at 16/1.
Recent head to head: The Storks would rather forget their last encounter
The first clash between the two teams this season happened at the very start in Round 3. The Bavarians won with an emphatic 1-6 as guests. The only other clash between the teams was in the 2021 DFB Pokal when Holstein made the surprise of the competition by taking out Bayern after a penalty shootout.
Players to watch: Olise is a proper baller
Harry Kane has been scoring so many goals in the Bundesliga that bookmakers no longer give him playable odds. He scored a hat-trick against Holstein Kiel in the reverse fixture and will certainly find the net again. But we will once again focus our attention on Michael Olise, who has been Bayern's playmaker lately. The Frenchman has six goals and eight assists in the Bundesliga.
Probable line-ups
Bayern Munich: Neuer, Guerreiro, Kim, Upamecano, Laimer, Pavlovic, Kimmich, Olise, Musiala, Sane, Kane
Holstein Kiel: Weiner, Zec, Becker, Komenda, Javorcek, Gigovic, Knudsen, Porath, Skrzybski, Machino, Harres
Anything else catch the eye?
Most traditional markets have no value because the bookmakers expect another crushing performance from the Bavarians. There's no point in risking the goal lines because it's quite possible Bayern Munich will score 2-3 early goals and stop pressing.
After all, they played a key game in the CL on Wednesday and Kompany will probably want to give his key players some rest. This is exactly why we plan to play for goals before halftime. Corners are also a good option, but there is a certain risk if Bayern Munich secure the win in the first half.
This German Bundesliga match between Bayern Munich and Holstein Kiel will be played on Feb 1, 2025 and kick off at 14:30. Check below for our tipsters best Bayern Munich vs Holstein Kiel prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
