Bayern Munich vs Augsburg: Lineups, team news, Tuchel risking the ire of Thomas Muller (and his fans), and more! (Updated)

After starting the Bundesliga season with a big win, Bayern Munich look to capitalize by securing another three points during the first home game of the season. Unfortunately the opponent is FC Augsburg, the FCA to Bayern’s FCB, who handed the Bavarians their first defeat of the season last year.

Thomas Tuchel better not underestimate his opponent — even with the likes of Harry Kane on the squad, this is a team that can punish a bad performance.

Team news

The big news is that Jamal Musiala has suffered a hamstring strain and will be out for several weeks. His absence means that the coach will need to rethink his standard approach for this game, especially in the attacking midfield slot. Manuel Neuer also remains sidelined, while Matthijs de Ligt is not yet at 100% due to an injury late last season — neither should be expected to start.

So, who will be in the lineup? Harry Kane is, of course, the first name on the team sheet, but his main partner for this game is a matter of debate. Thomas Muller seems like the obvious choice, but Tuchel claims that the Raumdeuter is not yet fit enough to play 90 minutes yet. Despite this, Muller showed in the last game vs Bremen how much of an impact he can have on Bayern Munich’s style of play, and given that he’s in full training right now, he should be ready for at least 60 minutes of action. Failure to start Thomas Muller here will raise serious questions about Tuchel’s plans for him moving forward.

If not him, then Leroy Sane is the next candidate for the No. 10 slot behind Kane. Serge Gnabry and Kingsley Coman would be the wingers in this scenario. Joshua Kimmich, despite not being a No. 6, is likely to start in the DM position, with Leon Goretzka possibly retaining his spot in the XI after a solid game against Bremen last Friday.

The defense is relatively easy to predict, since Tuchel praised Dayot Upamecano and Kim Min-Jae in his presser, touting them to start. Alphonso Davies is the only fit first team left-back right now, with Noussair Mazraoui is the only remaining right-back on the squad now that Josip Stanisic was loaned to Leverkusen and Benjamin Pavard has gone AWOL to force a move to Inter Milan.

Despite the recent acquisition of Daniel Peretz from Maccabi Tel Aviv, Sven Ulreich is likely to reprise his role as keeper for this one, with the young Israeli keeper likely to get his first taste of the Allianz Arena while watching from the bench.

Here’s what the XI could look like:

Update

TZ’s lineup prediction puts Leroy Sane at the #10 slot instead of Thomas Muller. Hmmmm.

At least Bild says Muller will start.

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