How Bayern Munich Will Cope Without Injured David Alaba vs. Borussia Dortmund

Bayern Munich undoubtedly go into Saturday's highly anticipated Klassiker with Dortmund as favourites, but following a series of unfortunate injuries, expectation has been tempered somewhat.

Borussia Dortmund may not be—or at least look like—the "Bayern hunters" they once were, but Jurgen Klopp's side will take great confidence from the fact Franck Ribery, Arjen Robben, Javi Martinez, Holger Badstuber, Claudio Pizarro and David Alaba will all spend Saturday evening watching the game from the stands.

According to Transfermarkt, that amounts to around €140 million worth of talent, yet for Saturday's game, there is one player whose absence may end up tipping the balance against Pep Guardiola's side. We are of course talking about Alaba and what Bayern lack without him.

For most casual fans of the game, the Austria international is defined as a left-back. However, his coach has been playing him in a series of positions this season, and not one has proved more successful than his regular jaunts to the Bayern midfield.

With injuries to Bastian Schweinsteiger and Philipp Lahm this campaign, Alaba has stepped in and taken on the responsibility of being the box-to-box midfielder who can score and create goals while also breaking down the opposing team. 

This is what Guardiola's side will lack when they step onto the field on Saturday evening against a Dortmund team that, by the poor standards they set themselves earlier in the season, can do no wrong and will undoubtedly feel under a little less pressure than their Bavarian counterparts. 

As we can see in the graphic below, we should expect to see Guardiola stick with his usual 4-1-4-1 formation, which facilitates a central-midfield trio of Xabi Alonso at the base and Sebastian Rode and Schweinsteiger in front, pushing up and down the field. Although Philipp Lahm is back from injury and did feature briefly against Werder Bremen, it's unlikely the Spanish coach will want to risk him for the entire 90 minutes. 

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Although it is technically Rode who will step in for Alaba, it will be Alonso who'll offer the most risk to his side against a Dortmund team that will have fond memories of hassling the Spaniard in previous seasons when he was at Real Madrid—their high-paced play often inhibiting the senior midfielder.

One of the few factors going Bayern's way is that Dortmund will also be without their own midfield general Nuri Sahin, meaning they will likely revert to a midfield trio of Ilkay Gundogan, Sven Bender and Sebastian Kehl.

Although that may look like a combative set of players, the latter two rarely offer much more than simple physicality and a blunt approach to getting the ball up the park. Dortmund have always benefitted against Bayern when they've been on top of their counter-attacking game, but it's unlikely they'll be able to do that if Bender and Kehl both start.

Similarly, Gundogan has reverted back to his old inconsistent self with just one goal and two assists in his last eight Bundesliga games, according to Transfermarkt. Although the Germany international isn't exactly a playmaker—more of a box-to-box midfielder like Schweinsteiger—he has often been found drifting through games while Sahin and others further up the pitch do all the heavy lifting. 

Although Gundogan tends to need little persuasion to get in the mood whenever Dortmund face Bayern, his form ahead of this almighty clash has been far from encouraging. 

In the end, the coming midfield battle looks as though it won't suit either side, meaning the match may end up being won in other areas of the pitch. Bayern will do their best to compensate for the loss of Alaba, while Dortmund just hope they can hang on during this most turbulent of seasons. 

@Sbienkowski