Bundesliga: Can Bayern Avoid Another Super Cup Hangover?

Bayern Munich vs Hertha Berlin

Bayern Munich are set to return to Bundesliga action after bagging yet another piece of silverware with their victory over rivals Borussia Dortmund in the DFL Super Cup.

It’s now the fifth trophy they’ve lifted this calendar year, joining the Bundesliga, the DFB Pokal, the Champions League, and the UEFA Super Cup.

Bayern suffered a bit of a UEFA Super Cup hangover as they were thumped 4-1 by Hoffenheim in their first game back, which finally ended their amazing 23-match unbeaten run. They will look to avoid a similar result when they host Hertha Berlin.

The Old Lady picked up a point in their trip to Munich last season. Can they defy the Bundesliga 2020 betting odds once again and leave the Allianz Arena with another positive result?

Talking Points

Bayern eager to bounce back

Bayern Munich have had quite a busy start to their season. They’ve already played four games in the first two weeks due to their Super Cup commitments.

After following up their UEFA Super Cup triumph by getting hammered by Hoffenheim last weekend, Bayern took the German Super Cup against Dortmund quite seriously. Hansi Flick made some notable changes to his team’s game plan. They reined in their pressing and played a more counter-attacking style, which led to their opening goal.

Can Joshua Kimmich score a goal against Hertha Berlin in their upcoming Bundesliga match? — Joshua Kimmich celebrates after scoring their goal in DFL Super Cup

But despite going 2-0 down, Dortmund still gave Bayern all they could handle. BVB played much better in the second half and brought it back to 2-2. Bayern needed a late Joshua Kimmich goal to get the victory.

After playing such a competitive match against Dortmund, it’s safe to expect some squad rotation from Flick against Hertha. But Kingsley Coman, who played well against Dortmund, could still keep his starting spot with Leroy Sane out due to a knee injury.

Bayern were caught out by Hoffenheim the last time they played in midweek as they looked flat and lacking in energy. But the champions will have learned some important lessons from that defeat. Moreover, they’ll be at home and will face a Hertha side that doesn’t press nearly as aggressively, which should help Bayern avoid another poor result.

Hertha still searching for consistency

Hertha Berlin had quite a topsy-turvy season in 2019-20. They cycled through four managers during the campaign as the whole Jurgen Klinsmann experiment ended in disaster.

They brought in their fourth manager, Bruno Labbadia, in April and he took charge of the team during the restart. Things were finally starting to look up for Hertha as they won three of their first four matches under his guidance.

However, their Bundesliga 2020 results after that fell off as they lost four of their next five matches to end the season.

And now, they’ve started the season with more of the same unpredictability. After hammering Werder Bremen 4-1 in their opening match, they came back and suffered a 3-1 home defeat to Eintracht Frankfurt.

But despite their inconsistency, Hertha do have some impressive talent — particularly in attack — that’s capable of causing any side some problems. Matheus Cunha and Krzysztof Piatek both played well upon their arrival in the winter. Meanwhile, Dodi Lukebakio had a fine season with seven goals and six assists — both team-highs.

Lukebakio has a fine goalscoring record against Bayern with five goals in three games. He famously scored a hat-trick against them for Fortuna Dusseldorf in 2018. He also scored against them in last season’s season opener as Hertha held the champions to a surprise 2-2 draw in Munich.

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History

Recent history between Bayern and Hertha is quite one-sided. Bayern have decided 17-2 advantage in terms of Bundesliga wins, with six draws.

After Hertha held Bayern to a draw on the opening game of last season, the Bavarians got their revenge by scoring a 4-0 win in the reverse fixture.

Although, Hertha have caused Bayern some problems in the recent past. From 2017-18, they went four matches unbeaten against the Bavarians and beat them 2-0 at home in 2018. That’s their only win over Bayern since 2009.

Betting Tip

	Bayern Munich vs Hertha Berlin	Over 3.75 @ 1.82
	October 5, 00:00 (GMT+8)

It speaks to Bayern’s brilliance — especially at home — that SBOTOP odds have them priced as significant 1.16 favourites even against a somewhat capable Hertha Berlin side, who are a massive 11.50 to score an upset win. Despite losing to Hoffenheim, anything other than a Bayern home win against Hertha would be a surprise.

Moreover, it would also be a surprise if there aren’t a few goals in this game. There have been four goals or more in both teams’ first two games this season, just like there were four goals in each of their two meetings last year.

Bayern likely won’t score eight goals like they did in their first home game against Schalke, but scoring at least four goals is well within the realm of possibility.