FC Bayern Munich: The League Leaders Visit The Allianz Arena........

Without further ado, let's get down to business:

Hoffenheim 1-2 Bayern

By the time plenty of Bayern supporters started watching the game, their side was already 1-0 down. Vedad Ibisevic scored for Hoffenheim in the 38th second as Diego Contento, Holger Badstuber and co seemed to have fallen asleep. Bayern had the majority of possession in the first half but Hoffenheim created the better chances.

In the second half, Bayern improved as Louis Van Gaal took off the young and intelligent Toni Kroos and brought in the energizer Ivica Olic, changing the formation to a 4-4-2. Diego Contento went off and Daniel Pranjic came on at left-back. Thomas Mueller eventually equalized when a mazy run from Franck Ribery was punched away by Daniel Haas. Mueller smashed in the rebound.

Ribery injured his ankle in the process and had to be taken off for Hamit Altintop. He won't be appearing for Bayern until late October. Hoffenheim started to tire and some of their players (namely Ibisevic) spent a portion of the second half on the floor. At the death, Altintop sent a cross that Olic headed to Daniel Van Buyten. Van Buyten, who looked marginally offside scored the winner.

Bayern somewhat wins against UEFA.

One of the two UEFA officials whom Bayern accused of pasting false allegations of match fixing in the UEFA Cup semifinal in 2008 against Zenit St. Petersburg was sacked recently. This official also had a hand in suspending Ribery for the Champions League final. That, atleast to me, seems like a lot of hatred towards Bayern.

Bayern- Mainz

When the league leaders have to visit the Allianz Arena, the occasion is always somewhat strange. It is after all, the home of the record Bundesliga champions and the four time European Cup winners (as well as the four time runners-up). Mainz, though, deserve to lead the standings. The "oh-fives" have five out of five wins so far in the campaign and much of this has come down to their ability to believe in themselves.

Enter coach Thomas Tuchel- he is young, bright and his ideas are versatile, much like his squad members. Lewis Holtby, Andre Schuerrle, Adam Szalai and Marcel Risse are just a few names in a very good roster. In truth, Mainz is all about "the team". They play a game where they continuously press their opponents which cause their rivals to make errors and succumb to the young side. A comeback 4-3 win after having gone down 3-0 against Wolfsburg says a lot about this side.

Mainz tend to feed off their opponents' errors. Bayern play a game where they retain 70 to 80% of the possession and thus sometimes loses a bit of concentration at the back. Any such lapse of concentration might see the Bavarian side lose out to Tuchel's side.

Bayern will be without Diego Contento for this one due to injury. Franck Ribery and Arjen Robben remain sidelined while Hamit Altintop is doubtful. There has been talks about a change of formation to a 4-4-2. Louis Van Gaal is a stubborn coach but this change might be necessary considering that Bayern's wins against Roma and Hoffenheim in recent weeks came after they reverted to a 4-4-2 formation.Ivica Olic has been talking to the press and apparently wants a switch to a 4-4-2, especially against weaker opponents.

Prediction: Despite Bayern's recent win over Hoffenheim, Bayern might not be able to win this one. Bayern was slightly lucky to have overcome Hoffenheim considering that Sejad Salihovic's free-kick hit the bar with the score at 1-0. The game might end up as a draw; however due to Bayern's ability to retain possession well, the Bavarian side might just take this one.

Final Score: Bayern 2-1 Mainz