Bayern Munich – Union Berlin

Bundesliga leaders are likely to produce a high-scoring match

Who would have thought that, on Matchday 22, the encounter between Bayern and Union Berlin would without the slightest doubt be considered the centrepiece and also the meeting of the Bundesliga leaders. This is due not only to the Berlin side's amazing tenacity and determination, but also to the champions' longstanding problem of being unable to consistently go through the season and prepare for Bundesliga games as seriously as they do for the Champions League. That said, Bayern have more opportunities to prepare properly for Sunday's encounter. The champion played their Eurocup encounter last week in Paris, while Union Berlin had to do so on Thursday when they host Ajax Amsterdam at their stadium. Bookmakers ahead of the match believed that Nagelsmann's side had made sense of last week's defeat to Borussia Gladbach, and offered odds of 1.34 on the reigning champions' victory. Bayern did indeed face the need to seriously tune up for the match in Mönchengladbach after a tough away win in Paris. The psychological aspects were not always dealt with by Flick on such occasions, and under Nagelsmann's leadership the situation seems to have worsened. It turned into a 2-3 defeat at the hands of Borussia. Bayern have had more than a week to prepare for the upcoming meeting. Of course, Neuer, Mazraoui, Mane and Hernandez did not return to the Munich squad during that period, but the team's healthy players were able to pull themselves together both physically and mentally. Union Berlin failed to play their final three official games of 2022, raising doubts among critics as to whether the capital city club will be among the best clubs in the Bundesliga after the World Cup break. But Union Berlin had a phenomenal January and February, dropping points for the first time in the league only last Sunday, when Schalke continued their "can't take it, can't let it go" approach to the Bundesliga title with a 0-0 win in Berlin. Bayern and Union Berlin have met seven times in the Bundesliga, exchanging goals on five occasions. It is likely that the rivals will once again play effectively in pursuit of sole possession.