Holders Bayern Munich play host to underperforming Bayer Leverkusen at Allianz Arena in the opening fixture of the 2016/2017 Bundesliga campaign.

Following yet another disappointing performance in the UEFA Champions League, the Bavarians recruited few more quality footballers this summer.

In came James Rodriguez, Corentin Tolisso, Niklas Sule and Sebastian Rudy, while there were not notable departures from Allianz Arena.

Even so, the Asian tour in pre-season seem to have brought more bad than good as the team produced several disappointing performances, although they did improve once they returned to Germany.

The Super Cup triumph over arch rivals Borussia Dortmund was a perfect morale booster after some heavy defeats in pre-season, and the Bavarians then went on to record a 5-0 win over Chemnitzer in the DFB Pokal.

The likes of Sule, Rudy and Tolisso were all handed their debuts, whereas fourth summer recruit James Rodriguez missed out through injury.

The Colombian remains sidelined, just like Juan Bernat, whereas Manuel Neuer, Thiago Alcantara and Javi Martinez are all unlikely to feature.

Having won seven of last ten home games in Bundesliga without conceding, Bayern Munich are 21/20 to defeat Leverkusen to nil.

Probable starting line-up (4-3-3): Ulreich – Rafinha, Hummels, Sule, Alaba – Tolisso, Kimmich, Vidal – Robben, Lewandowski, Ribery.

Not so long ago, Bayer Leverkusen were neck and neck with Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund, but that time seems like distant past at the moment.

Die Werkself were utterly disappointing last season, finishing the campaign in the bottom half, just four points above the relegation zone.

Rather than reinforcing the squad over the summer, Bayer Leverkusen did just the opposite, allowing stars Javier Hernandez, Hakan Calhanoglu and Omer Toprak to leave, while Kyriakos Papadopoulos was also offloaded.

Having only signed Sven Bender and Dominik Kohr, die Werkself could be in for yet another disappointing campaign, that is unless they sign few more quality players in the next two weeks.

Bayer Leverkusen enjoyed a 3-0 triumph over Karlsruher in the DFB Pokal, but only after the goalless draw in the regular time, and they clearly face a tough task in the Bayern game.

The good news is that Kevin Kampl appears to have recovered from injury, but Kai Havertz is highly unlikely to feature.

Probable starting line-up (4-2-3-1): Leno – Henrichs, Tah, S. Bender, Wendell – Aranguiz, Kohr – Mehmedi, Kampl, Bellarabi – Volland.