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🍺 Bayern vs Leverkusen 🤕 Rodri ACL
From the top of the table clash in the Premier League to the big one on the Bundesliga plus, how will City get on without Rodri?
George Hudson
September 25, 2024 • Estimated Reading Time: 12 minutes
🍺 Bayern vs Leverkusen 🤕 Rodri ACL
Erling Haaland was up for the big game against Arsenal. He silenced the remaining doubters by showing that he can do it against the best defences. The big Norwegian opened the scoring on Sunday with his 100th goal for Manchester City. The goal was Haaland’s 100th for the club and he equalled a record held by Cristiano Ronaldo: fewest games (105) to reach 100 goals for a top five European side in the 21st century. Ronaldo did it in La Liga for Real Madrid but Haaland has done it in the Premier League —fair play to him.
Although City rescued a point, the big loss for Pep Guardiola was Rodri who has damaged his ACL and will likely miss the rest of the season. See this week’s shocker for City’s win percentages with and without Rodri. The weekend also saw AC Milan win the Derby della Madonnina to end Inter’s 6-game win streak, whilst Manchester United drew away at Crystal Palace in a game they probably should have won.
This week we’re focusing on the big game in Germany as Vincent Kompany’s free-scoring Bayern Munich host reigning Bundesliga champions, Bayer Leverkusen. We’ve also got the
Today's game plan:
Bayern Munich vs Bayer Leverkusen | Saturday | 17:30
A top of the table clash in the Bundesliga on Saturday as ‘FC Hollywood’ Bayern Munich host reigning German champions, Bayer Leverkusen at the Allianz Arena.
Galvanised by the arrival of Michael Olise, Bayern are scoring goals for fun and have the home advantage so are the slight favourites in this one. But Leverkusen are more than capable of causing problems, especially through the speed of Florian Wirtz and Victor Boniface up front.
With the pace and firepower that both teams have, we’re expecting a high-scoring game.
Form & Team News
There were plenty of doubters when Vincent Kompany made the move from little Burnley, to FC Hollywood but has made an impressive start to his time as manager of Bayern Munich. Bayern have been perfect so far this season, with four wins from four in the Bundesliga in which they have scored 16 goals and conceded only three.
Kompany employs a 4-2-3-1 formation to great effect for Bayern. In the attacking phase, Bayern look to overload the wide areas to get the most out of their rapid wingers and fullbacks.
The most recent league outing was a 5-nil away win against Werder Bremen. Olise scored a brace and Harry Kane scored one to take his tally for this season to 5 goals. The signing of Michal Olise has had a big impact on Bayern’s attacking play. Being able to go down the line or cut in from the right, the Frenchman gets opposition defences running backwards. So far, he’s scored three goals and contributed two assists this season whilst also linking creatively with Jamal Musiala and Kane.
On the injury front, Bayern are likely to be without Manuel Neuer who is still not back to full training after he picked up a hip injury in the Champions League game against Dinamo Zagreb. Sven Ulreich started against Werder Bremen and is likely to stay in goal for Saturday’s game. Bayern will also be without right back Sacha Boey who is recovering from a tear to his meniscus that will jeep him sidelined until December.
GR Bayern Munich predicted lineup | Ulreich, Upamecano, Davies, Min-jae, Kimmich, Laimer, Olise, Pavlović, Musiala, Gnabry, Kane
Bayer Leverkusen are second in the Bundesliga having won three and lost one game so far this season. The loss came at home against RB Leipzig —a game that Leverkusen somehow managed to let a 2 goal lead slip, at home. And herein lies the emerging problem for Leverkusen this season: conceding goals.
After going unbeaten for the entirety of last season, it’s a leaky defence that has emerged as the issue for Xabi Alonso this season. Leverkusen have conceded 9 goals in 4 games, or 2.25 goals per game which puts them in the top 5 teams for goals conceded this season. Last season, they conceded just 24 goals over the entirety of the Bundesliga season, or 0.71 per game.
The positive for Alonso is that his team are scoring plenty of goals. Like last season, the goals have come from all over the team but in the Bundesliga the goals are mainly scored by Florian Wirtz who has scored four goals and Victor Boniface who has three goals in the Bundesliga.
Leverkusen have had a full week to prepare for Bayern Munich and Xabi Alonso will also have the luxury of a fully-fit squad to choose from.
GR Bayer Leverkusen predicted lineup | Hradecky, Tapsoba, Tah, Hincapie, Frimpong, Xhaka, Andrich, Grimaldo, Terrier, Wirtz, Boniface
This Week’s Shocker…
After a gruelling 2023/24 season during which he played 63 games for club and country, Rodri has picked up what looks to be a serious knee injury.
At the time of writing, the unconfirmed reports are that the holding midfielder has damaged his anterior cruciate ligament. City have already flown Rodri out to Barcelona to meet the famous Dr Ramon Cugat, football’s foremost knee surgeon who has worked with players like Xavi, Sergio Aguero and Vincent Kompany.
Rodri seemed to hyper-extend his leg when challenging Thomas Partey at a corner during Sunday’s game. Although Rodri is putting weight on the knee and walking without crutches, if an ACL tear is confirmed he’ll likely miss the rest of the season. Across all competitions, Manchester City’s win rate drops from 74% with Rodri to just 62% without him.
Around the world…
On Sunday, in the clash of the ‘Olympiques‘ Marseille secured a 3-2 win away at Lyon. The comeback was made all the more impressive by the fact that Marseille played most of the game with 10 men after Leonardo Balerdi was sent off with just 5 minutes gone! The winning goal from John Rowe is special.
AC Milan have finally ended their run of Milan derby losses by beating Inter 2-1 in the Derby della Madonnina. Inter were on a win streak of 6 in the derby but AC fully deserved to win this one, even after their pumping in the Champions League at the hands of Liverpool. The highlights of the game were Christian Pullisic’s impressive solo goal that opened the scoring and then the nice work from Federico Dimarco. Homegrown defender Matteo Gabbia headed in the winner in the 89th minute.
In the top of the table clash in the Roshn Saudi League, Al Hilal beat Al Ittihad 3-1, thanks to a brace from Aleksandar Mitrovic. There was also a late goal from Salem Al Dawsari to put the icing on the cake and take Al Hilal to the top of the league. Despite a late consolation goal from Karim Benzema, Al Hilal's win put an end to Al Ittihad’s unbeaten run.
Varane had a 14-year career during which he won the Champions League four times with Real Madrid and lifted the 2018 World Cup with France. He seriously injured his knee during his debut for Como against Sampdoria in the Coppa Italia. In a statement released through his social media accounts, Varane has revealed he will stay on with Como in a off-the-pitch capacity.
Games to keep an eye on…
Manchester United vs Twente | Wednesday | 20:00 BST
Manchester United kick-off their Europa League campaign against Twente tonight. This is the Dutch side that Erik Ten Hag made over 200 appearances for in his playing days.
Chelsea vs Brighton | Saturday | 15:00 BST
Chelsea are actually looking decent under Enzo Maresca. They’re scoring goals, probably because there’s plenty of competition for places in forward positions. Brighton have gone off the boil a bit and are failing to finish games when in winning positions, but Fabian Hürzeler’s team will give anyone a good game.
Manchester United vs Tottenham | Sunday | 16:30 BST
Man United vs Spurs is always a good watch —there’s usually goals and these days, both teams will think they can get the win. United were unlucky not to take all 3 points from their game against Crystal Palace over the weekend, but they need to be more clinical and take some of the chances they create. Although Joshua Zirkzee looks neat and tidy, United fans will welcome the return of Rasmus Hojlund.
Atletico Madrid vs Real Madrid | Sunday | 20:00 BST
It’s the Madrid derby on Sunday night as 4th-placed Atletico host 2nd-placed Real at the Cívitas Metropolitano. Both teams are unbeaten in La Liga so far this season and, in this fixture, a draw isn’t an acceptable result for either set of fans.
Arsenal vs PSG | Tuesday | 20:00 GMT
The second round of fixtures in the new format of the Champions League get underway on Tuesday and the pick of the bunch is Arsenal playing host to PSG. The reigning French champions are top of Ligue 1 but Marseille are on close behind them.
GOAT Trivia…
Say congrats to…
Ronnie Whelan [@WhelanRonnie5], the Ireland and Liverpool legend turns 63 today.
This might be off the shin, but this will go down as one of Ireland’s best goals in an international competition. Some goal to score against the Soviet Union.
On this day in football…
On 25th September 1999, Manchester United and Southampton played out an entertaining 3-3 draw at Old Trafford. The game had plenty of memorable moments; Marian Pahars's nutmeg on Jaap Stam, doubles from Dwight Yorke and Matt Le Tissier, but the game will always be remembered for Massimo Taibi’s comical blunder.
Goal of the week…
These days, centre-backs are expected to be good on the ball, but banging in goals from outside the box? Our goal of the week is Riccardo Calafiori’s goal against Man City. His first in an Arsenal shirt and with technique like this, probably the first of many.
What a way to score your first Premier League goal, Riccardo Calafiori! 💫
— Premier League (@premierleague)
10:09 AM • Sep 23, 2024
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