Our prediction for this Bundesliga match:
David faces Goliath at Allianz Arena as Bayern Munich and Darmstadt go head to head in the Bundesliga round 9. The mighty Bavarians are on a quest to defend their title and a win over Darmstadt could see them climb to top position in the standings. A man to keep an eye on in the home team will be summer signing Harry Kane, who scored his 9th goal of the season in a 3-1 win over Mainz, while all Leon Goretzka, Dayot Upamecano, Raphael Guerreiro, Tarek Buchmann, and Gabriel Marusic remain on the sidelines with injuries. Serge Gnabry is a major doubt.
The Lillywhites, on the other hand, failed to shock Leipzig in their last league match (1-3) and they face yet another uphill task against the title hopefuls. As previously mentioned, this is going to be a David-vs-Goliath clash; therefore, anything but a routine home win would be a big surprise. Clemens Riedel faces race against the clock to bet fit for Saturday’s encounter, while fellow defender Emir Karic remains on the sidelines with a muscle injury.
Highlighted Player (Harry Kane):
Widely regarded as one of England’s best strikers at the moment, Harry Kane enjoyed a meteoric rise at Tottenham Hotspur, scoring 21 Premier League goals during the 2014/2015 campaign to be voted PFA Young Player of the Year.
The highly rated striker went on to surpass that achievement the following season as he helped Tottenham Hotspur mount a serious title challenge for the first time in club’s recent history and he made seamless transition to international football. Kane scored four goals in his first ten appearances for England to prove he was here to stay and at the same time established himself as a first choice striker in Roy Hodgson’s squad ahead of the Euro 2016 finals.
Kane is a modern striker, who is extremely dangerous in the opposition box, but it was some outstanding goals from distance as well as link-up play with teammates that earned him an excellent reputation in world football. Kane is expected to lead both Tottenham and England in years to come, that is if he can resist the lure of top European clubs that continue to cast admiring glances his way.
Highlighted Team (Darmstadt):
SV Darmstadt 98 are a professional football club that compete in the German Bundesliga. Darmstadt were founded in 1898 and the club’s original name was FC Olympia Darmstadt. In 1905 the club changed its’ name to Sportvererien Darmstadt 98. Die Lilien (The Lilies) play their home games at Merck-Stadion am Bollenfalltor and the capacity of the ground is 17,000.
After spending 33 years in lower leagues, Darmstadt competed in the German Bundesliga in the 2015/2016 campaign, with the team finishing the season in 14th place in the standings, just two points clear of the relegation zone. Die Lilien wear blue shirts and white shorts and their main rivals are Kickers Offenbach.
The likes of Bruno Labbadia, Gino Lettieri, Zivojin Juskic, Kosta Runjaic, Lothar Buchmann are some of the most famous coaches that used to be in charge of the team in the past. It has to be noted that Darmstadt have won the Hesse Cup seven times (1966, 1999, 2001, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2013).