Bayern Munich follow up their last-gasp 1-0 Champions League win against Manchester City with a Bundesliga trip to lowly Hamburg on Saturday.
After three league games, Pep Guardiola's men sit on seven points while Hamburg have picked up just one and are currently propping up the rest of the Bundesliga.
On the back of a hard-fought match against City in midweek, Bayern will likely be buoyed by the late nature of Jerome Boateng's winner, and Hamburg could be in for a difficult day.
Read on for full scheduling, television and live streaming information as well as a preview of the encounter at the Imtech Arena.
Date: Saturday, Sept. 20
Time: 2:30 p.m. BST, 9:30 a.m. ET
TV Info: BT Sport 1 (UK), GolTV (US)
Live Stream: BT Sport app (UK only)
More to Come
Bayern have yet to hit the heights of last season's victorious Bundesliga campaign so far this term but have still picked up two wins from three, although they have had to work hard, per German football expert Cristian Nyari:
However, there is likely much more to come from Guardiola's side as they build into the new season with players—like Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery—returning from injury.
Ribery scored on his comeback against Stuttgart last weekend but missed the midweek encounter, although the rest may well see him available for the weekend's game.
Robben only made a substitute appearance against City but insists he is nearing a full recovery after a hectic summer with the Dutch national team, per Stefan Coerts on Goal.com:
We’re working on certain things and the only way is up. We got the three points and that was the most important thing. Sometimes chances go in, sometimes they don't. Not everyone who gets a chance is going to score. But there were plenty of positives, we created a lot of good opportunities. Fitness-wise I'm doing well. I started the season really well against Wolfsburg, but after that I've had a few problems. They're healing nicely, though, and hopefully soon they'll be gone.
Bayern beat Hamburg both home and away in the league last season, winning 4-1 on the road and 3-1 at the Allianz Arena.
They will be confident of overturning their opposition easily this weekend and keeping up with the early-season pace at the top of the Bundesliga.
Early Casualty in Hamburg
Hamburg will be without coach Mirko Slomka for the Bayern clash as the 47-year-old—who took over in February—was sacked earlier this week after a run of poor results, per Karolos Grohmann of Reuters, via the Daily Mail.
Under-23 coach Joe Zinnbauer will be in charge for the visit of the champions with the Hamburg hierarchy no doubt hopeful of an upturn in fortunes after the change of regime.
The North German side have yet to score a goal this season, their only point coming from a 0-0 draw with Koln on the opening day, with TNC Bundesliga offering a damning assessment of their 2-0 loss to Hannover last week:
New signing Lewis Holtby will be looking to impress for the hosts against Bayern on Saturday after being loaned out by Tottenham for the season, his debut against Hannover being a less-than-auspicious bow for the German.
The simple fact of the matter is that Hamburg are unlikely to see an upturn in fortunes in terms of results against Bayern but will be hopeful of an improved performance if not a victory.
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