Simon Dalton presents his prediction for the DFB-Pokal match.
Union Berlin became the first club to take points off Bayern München a month ago, and now the hosts will try to produce an upset in the DFB-Pokal, where last year they lost to future finalists Arminia Bielefeld.
Union Berlin
Union Berlin had been on an impressive run but then suffered a painful setback: after sensational results against Eintracht Frankfurt (4:3) and that draw with Bayern München (2:2), their fans were already thinking about the European qualification zone, but the 1:2 defeat to Heidenheim 1846 halted that progress. The team led until the 90th minute, did not allow their opponents a single shot on target, but still came away with nothing. In the round of 64, Union Berlin thrashed Gütersloh 5:0 – the second-biggest win in the history of the competition. Then came a 1:1 draw with last season’s finalists Arminia Bielefeld and a 1:0 win after extra time. At home, they have not impressed and have failed to win any of their last four matches.
Bayern München
Bayern München have raised expectations to an extremely high level: 16 wins in a row and 56 goals over that run is a record for the Top 5 European leagues, but the sequence ended against Union Berlin, and then came their first defeat, 1:3 against Arsenal. In the round of 64 against Wehen Wiesbaden from the 3. Liga (3:2), they gave opportunities to the reserve players, while against Köln they won comfortably 4:1 despite conceding early. This season, Bayern München have been involved in high-scoring matches and in every case the total has gone over 2.5 goals.
Union Berlin vs Bayern München Prediction
Bayern München should dominate Union Berlin and the match is likely to be high scoring. We expect them to win in regulation time and at least three goals to be scored.
