Simon Dalton presents his prediction for the Bundesliga match.
The injury to Bayern Munich’s leading striker and star, Harry Kane, will impact the team's scoring ability. Of course, in Munich, the hosts are expected to cope with Heidenheim, but the solid defensive line of the European competition participants will pose challenges to the favourites.
Bayern Munich
Since the beginning of November, Bayern Munich have not seen a match with more than three goals. Last week, they secured a narrow victory over Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League (1:0) due to a mistake by Matvey Safonov, and they nearly lost to Borussia Dortmund (1:1), saved in the end by Jamal Musiala. Against Borussia Dortmund, Thomas Müller replaced the injured Harry Kane on the field: Bayern Munich remain threatening going forward (1.46 xG), but without their main forward, their conversion rate suffers.
Heidenheim
In their last nine matches across all competitions, starting with a win over Pafos (1:0) in the Europa Conference League on 24 October, Heidenheim have only twice scored more than one goal. In games against Chelsea (0:2) and Eintracht Frankfurt (0:4) last week, they were ineffective in attack — the summer departure of Tim Kleindienst to Borussia Mönchengladbach has been a significant loss. Against Eintracht Frankfurt, Heidenheim managed only 0.69 xG.
Bayern Munich vs Heidenheim Prediction
Their elimination from the DFB-Pokal at the hands of Bayer Leverkusen (0:1) highlighted Bayern Munich's weakness without Kane in the squad. Heidenheim will put all their efforts into a low block, and they have previously beaten Munich (3:2 in April), so the mid-table side know the weaknesses of the favourites.
