The Bundesliga is being held hostage by Bayern Munich once more, who already have a seven-point lead in first place and who have a good shot at extending that lead today in their match against Eintracht Frankfurt. The rest of the top four in Germany’s top division -- Borussia Dortmund, Schalke and Wolfsburg -- all have potentially tricky matches this weekend, but Bayern are licking their chops at the prospect of facing their opponent.
Bayern Munich vs. Eintracht Frankfurt 2015 live stream: Time, TV schedule and how to watch online
Bayern have a chance to extend their already dominant Bundesliga lead against a Frankfurt side that’s been fairly hapless of late.
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While an upset is always possible in any given match, it just doesn’t look like it’s on the cards for Frankfurt on Friday. They’ve won just once in their last six league matches, a stretch in which they’ve scored only four goals and given up 11. They also failed to score a single goal in two losses to Bayern last season -- and that was with a team that is generally considered better than this season’s version of Frankfurt.
Frankly, it looks like it’s going to be a long and unpleasant night for Die Adler.
Key player -- Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich)
Concerns that Lewandowski’s all-time great hot streak had ended were laid somewhat to rest last weekend, when he scored against Köln after two matches without a goal. Now’s an awfully good chance for him to fan the flames of his incredible goalscoring run -- currently at sixteen goals in his last nine matches, including three scored in a pair of international matches for Poland earlier this month -- against a rather shaky Frankfurt defense. They’ve given up at least two goals in a match five times in 10 league matches this season, and just shipped five to Gladbach two weeks ago. That’s got to smell like blood in the water for a goalscoring shark like Lewandowski.
Key matchup -- Alexander Meier (Frankfurt) vs. Arturo Vidal (Bayern Munich)
It’s been a feast or famine kind of season for Vidal since he joined Bayern last summer. Either he plays extraordinarily well and is a dominant force to be reckoned with in Bayern’s midfield, or -- well, or he’s anything but that. If he’s having an off-day, it could be Meier’s chance to shine -- Frankfurt’s captain and leading scorer this season needs to find any way to spark his team to a top-notch performance in this match.
Eintracht Frankfurt injuries and suspensions
Out: Enis Bunjaki, Yannick Zummack, Anderson Bamba, Sonny Kittel, Emil Balayev
Bayern Munich injuries and suspensions
Out: Mario Götze, Franck Ribery, Mehdi Benatia, Sebastian Rode, Tom Starke, Sinan Kurt, Julian Green
With Götze out for awhile and Ribery still out at least another week, Bayern’s attacking depth is still getting tested pretty darn hard. Luckily Arjen Robben is back and playing well, and Kingsley Coman continues to be an excellent reserve and rotation option. Now, if only they could get Benatia and Rode healthy again ...
Match date/time: Fri., 3:30 p.m. ET, 8:30 p.m. local
Venue: Commerzbank Arena, Frankfurt, Germany
TV: FOX Sports 2 (US), Sky Bundesliga 1/HD (Germany), BT Sport Europe (U.K.)
Online: FOX Soccer 2 Go, FOX Sports Go (US), Sky Go Deutschland (Germany)
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