Ninth-placed Hoffenheim will attempt to inflict the first defeat of the campaign on Bundesliga leaders Bayern, but it is clear that is easier said than done.

The Bavarians may not have impressed against Hertha last time out, but they, nonetheless, remain hot favourites to claim maximum points.

Having only secured survival after beating Kaiserslautern in the relegation play-offs, Hoffenheim were determined to avoid a similar scenario and the club management in turn signed quite a few quality players.

In spite of their style of play almost costing them their Bundesliga status, the Wirsol Rhein-Neckar-Arena outfit continued to play attacking football, but with much bigger success this term.

Hoffenheim climbed to ninth in the overall standings thanks to some impressive attacking performances, with Roberto Firmino and Anthony Modeste especially impressive.

With team’s scoring record second to none in Bundesliga, you might want to consider betting on both teams to score market at 1.67 (2/3).

Hoffenheim recovered well from the “ghost-goal” defeat to Bayer Leverkusen, having hammered Hannover 4-1 on the road, so they surely go into the Bayern clash in great spirits.

Eugen Polanski and Kevin Volland are likely to start after shaking off minor knocks, but Tim Wiese, Alexander Stolz and Boris Vukcevic continue to miss out.

Probable starting line-up (4-3-2-1): Casteels – Beck, Abraham, Sule, Salihovic – Polanski, Strobl, Rudy – Volland, Firmino – Modeste.

After winning the Bundesliga title in style last season, Bayern Munich will have a much more difficult task this term, with both Borussia Dortmund and Bayer Leverkusen just one point behind at the moment.

The Bavarians have so far suffered two slip-ups in the league, sharing spoils with Freiburg and Bayer Leverkusen, but they have yet to taste defeat this term.

Following some unconvincing performances in the opening exchanges, the Bavarians have raised their form of late, although they were not exactly at their best in the home game against Hertha.

Bayern ended up winning the match 3-2, but another under-par display could cost them dearly against free-scoring Hoffenheim.

This is why there is little value in odds of 1.30 (3/10) offered on away win, and backing Mario Mandzukic to score anytime at 1.82 (41/50) sounds like a much better idea.

Arjen Robben, Toni Kroos and Dante have all recovered from their respective ailments, but Holger Badstuber, Xherdan Shaqiri, Claudio Pizarro and Thiago Alcantara remain in the infirmary.

Probable starting line-up (4-1-4-1): Neuer – Lahm, Van Buyten, Boateng, Alaba – Martinez – Robben, Muller, Schweinsteiger, Ribery – Mandzukic.