How will Bayern Munich line up against Werder Bremen? (Update: James Rodriguez and Mats Hummels confirmed out)

Less than 24 hours to go until Bayern Munich kick off a league/cup double header against Werder Bremen. Saturday’s game will be played at the Allianz Arena, and Niko Kovac and his men will accept nothing but a win to stay ahead of Borussia Dortmund in the table.

How will the Bavarians line up? Well, let’s take a look.

Team News

Ajren Robben continues to work on his recovery, but he is still not an option for the Bavarians. Maneul Neuer tore a calf muscle last week and will surely miss the game. In addtition, Mats Hummels (hamstring), Corentin Tolisso (knee), James Rodriguez (adductor) are all doubtful — with a big Pokal clash looming in midweek, it’s unlikely that Kovac will risk any of them.

So where does that leave the team? Robert Lewandowski is sure to start at striker, with Thomas Muller behind him in attacking midfield. Kingsley Coman and Serge Gnabry are the likely combination of wingers to start the game, with Franck Ribery and Alphonso Davies being candidates to come off the bench.

Bremen have been exceptionally good offensively this season, so it’s likely that Kovac will go for a relatively defensive midfield pairing of Javi Martinez and Thiago Alcantara. Leon Goretzka could be an option from the bench, but unfortunately we probably won’t see any Renato Sanches action against Werder.

In defense, Jerome Boateng will have to come in for the injured Mats Hummels. Boa hasn’t played since he was subbed on against Heidenheim in the Pokal two weeks ago, but he will need to be on his game as a partner to Niklas Sule. The playing time will also be an invaluable warmup for the midweek game in the Pokal, where Sule is suspended. Hopefully, Boateng can put up a good performance and ease the concerns of the fans.

David Alaba and Joshua Kimmich are guaranteed to be the fullbacks for the game, while Sven Ulreich will fill in for Manuel Neuer in goal. Overall, here’s how we expect Bayern to line up tomorrow:

With Hummels in for Sule, that’s also the lineup that’s likely to start in the Pokal.

Update: James Rodriguez and Mats Hummels confirmed out

According to info by Bild, both James Rodriguez and Mats Hummels did not take part in the final training session, they will not play against Werder.