Bayern Munich vs RB Leipzig Prediction: Both teams to score and over 2.5 goals

The Allianz Arena will host Bundesliga winners Bayern Munich's first game against top-four contenders RB Leipzig on Saturday. This is the team's first game since it was announced that head coach Thomas Tuchel will step down in the summer. The two sides will play for the first time since September of last year when the Bavarian giants rallied from a two-goal deficit at halftime to salvage a 2-2 draw at Red Bull Arena with two goals from Leroy Sane and Harry Kane.

RB Leipzig has had a respectable season thus far, sitting in fifth place in the Bundesliga rankings. The away team will be optimistic going into this match after easily defeating Borussia Monchengladbach 2-0 the previous week.

Bayern Munich, on the other hand, has not played at their peak level this season and is now in second place in the league rankings. The Bavarian giants must recover this weekend after suffering an unexpected 3-2 loss to VfL Bochum in their previous match.

Bayern Munich had three straight losses across all competitions in February, making it all but certain that they would go through a trophy-free season for the first time in twelve years.

With 12 games remaining, the Bavarians are eight points behind unbeaten Bundesliga leaders Bayer Leverkusen and one goal behind Lazio in their Champions League last-16 match. This season, the Bavarians were humiliated 3-0 by Leipzig in the DFL Supercup and shockedly defeated by third-tier team Saarbrucken in the DFB-Pokal.

Following a "good, open discussion" with the club's hierarchy, Tuchel has mutually agreed to leave at the end of the season. Bayern's most recent setback came at the hands of VfL Bochum, who surprisingly defeated them 3-2 at Vonovia Ruhrstadion last weekend.

In order for his team to have any chance of winning a trophy this season, Tuchel has stated that he and his coaching staff are committed to "achieving maximum success" before leaving the Allianz Arena. Their immediate goal is to invigorate the first-team squad and swiftly turn the club's fortunes around.

Bayern, however, is not certain to win on Saturday given that they have lost all four of their previous encounters with Leipzig. In fact, not since 1991, when former manager Soren Lerby commanded Bayern, have they lost four straight games across all competitions.

Leipzig began 2024 with a dismal loss in their first three Bundesliga games of the year, but they have now turned the turnaround and are back in the running for Champions League qualifying after obtaining seven of the nine points that were available this month.

Last weekend, Die Roten Bullen defeated a struggling Borussia Monchengladbach team 2-0 at home, capping a season full of goals scored by top scorer Lois Openda (16 goals overall) and Xavi Simons. Die Bullen had previously defeated Union Berlin 2-0 and drawn 2-2 at Augsburg.

After drawing with Wolfsburg, Marco Rose's team, which had earlier in the week recovered from a 1-0 first-leg loss to Real Madrid in the Champions League last 16, are still in fifth place in the Bundesliga standings but have closed the gap to just one point over fourth-place Borussia Dortmund.

Leipzig's schedule appears favorable, with three straight games against the bottom three, but they must first concentrate on Saturday's match against Bayern in order to take advantage of the Bavarians' recent bad luck and end their own unsatisfactory road record.

This season, Bayern Munich has been nothing like they used to be, and they desperately need a quick turnaround. The Bavarians will need to put up a strong show this weekend since they have played poorly defensively over the last month. To maintain their small chances of winning the championship, Bayern Munich must avoid making any more mistakes in the Bundesliga. However, that will be difficult to accomplish against Leipzig, who have defeated the Bavarians well in previous encounters.

Although Die Roten Bullen are no easy opponents for Bayern, we think the visitors will be able to frustrate their hosts and earn a share of the spoils in an exciting game with many goals, especially considering the divergent attitudes in the two camps.