Football Bet of the Day: Viktoria won't be shamed

Busy Bayern to ease off

Viktoria Köln v Bayern Munich
Wednesday 31 August, 19:46
Live on Premier Sports 2

Londrina did their bit for our Tobias last night, but CRB need to check themselves after drawing a blank in a 1-0 defeat. After stepping in while I swanned around Hamburg at the start of the week, TG gets to enjoy the fishbrötchen I brought back with me.

I should've thought it through, because having met Tobias in Brazil, I now have to go back to Germany, because Bayern are visiting third-tier side Viktoria Köln in the first round of the DFB Pokal. The game was postponed because of Bayern's involvement in the Supercup.

There's no doubt that Bayern are playing incredibly good football this season. Although Robert Lewandowski is showing his undoubted quality in La Liga with Barcelona, his departure has allowed Bayern coach Julian Nagelsmann to put together an attack that is less predictable. Sadio Mané, Serge Gnabry, Jamal Musiala, Thomas Müller, Kingsley Coman and Leroy Sané can all drop in and out of a devastating front four, and former Rennes youngster Mathys Tel will press his claims this season.

Bayern have put five goals past Leipzig, six past Frankfurt and seven past Bochum. Had Borussia Mönchengladbach keeper Yann Sommer not made a record 19 saves on Saturday, a 1-1 draw might have been another hefty Bayern win.

However, this will not be a full-strength team that makes the trip to face Viktoria Köln. Although Müller and Joshua Kimmich will start, Mané is expected to be rested along with a number of other first-team stars. New signings like Ryan Gravenberch and Noussair Mazraoui are expected to feature, and while they are excellent players, it may take a while for the team as a whole to find its rhythm. Viktoria have leaked just seven goals in six league games this term, and I don't expect them to naively go for it tonight.

If we look at Bayern's recent first-round games, they won 3-0 at Düren in 2020, 3-1 at Cottbus in 2019, 1-0 at Drochtersen-Assel in 2018 and 5-0 at Chemnitzer in 2017. Last year they won 12-0 at Bremer SV, but that was a complete and utter mismatch.

I'll back Under 5.5 Goals here at 2.166/5, with Bayern keen to conserve energy for bigger challenges ahead.