Bongarts
Fresh from their 1-0 Champions League loss in Basel, Bayern Munich are still without the talismanic Bastian Schweinsteiger as the influential midfielder continues to recover from an ankle injury sustained in the Bavarians' 2-0 Pokal win over Stuttgart.
At the back, Jerome Boateng is likely to line up next to Holger Badstuber once more in the centre of defence as Daniel Van Buyten continues to toil with a broken metatarsal, while additional absentees include Breno and Diego Contento, who are both working on regaining match fitness.
For Schalke, Jermaine Jones continues his suspension for deliberately stomping on Marco Reus' broken toe, and will be joined on the sidelines by a torn-ACL-nursing Ralf Fahrmann.
Finally, coach Huub Stevens is unable to call upon the services of Lars Unnerstall and Sergio Escudero who will also miss the clash through injury.
Prediction | PROBABLE LINEUPS |
BAYERN MUNICH  Neuer Rafinha, Boateng, Badstuber, Lahm Luiz Gustavo, Kroos Robben, Muller, Ribery Gomez | SCHALKE  Hildebrand Howedes, Papadopoulos, Metzelder, Fuchs Matip, Hoger Farfan, Raul, Draxler Huntelaar |
Fresh from their 1-0 Champions League loss in Basel, Bayern Munich are still without the talismanic Bastian Schweinsteiger as the influential midfielder continues to recover from an ankle injury sustained in the Bavarians' 2-0 Pokal win over Stuttgart.
At the back, Jerome Boateng is likely to line up next to Holger Badstuber once more in the centre of defence as Daniel Van Buyten continues to toil with a broken metatarsal, while additional absentees include Breno and Diego Contento, who are both working on regaining match fitness.
For Schalke, Jermaine Jones continues his suspension for deliberately stomping on Marco Reus' broken toe, and will be joined on the sidelines by a torn-ACL-nursing Ralf Fahrmann.
Finally, coach Huub Stevens is unable to call upon the services of Lars Unnerstall and Sergio Escudero who will also miss the clash through injury.
| DID YOU KNOW |
In the 41 occasions that Bayern have hosted Schalke over the years, the Gelsenkirchen side have only managed to take home three points on six occasions. Most recently, the Bavarians have won their last two clashes against Sunday's visitors – both home and away.
- While FCB have been struggling for form of late, the hosts have actually won their last five matches at the Allianz Arena in all competitions.
- In their last 19 trips to Bayern, Schalke have only managed to score more than one goal on one occasion: a 3-1 win in April of last year.
- If the Royal Blues can repeat the feat and score three goals on Sunday, they will reach a tally of 100 goals against Bayern in the Bundesliga.
- Both sides boast the Bundesliga's top scorers for the season as Mario Gomez and Klass-Jan Huntelaar have each notched an impressive 18 goals in 21 appearances so far.
With Bayern in a slump and Schalke able to seemingly pull a result from nowhere, this tie is a difficult one to call.
However, after the Bavarians' Champions League loss against Basel, the club's hierarchy will no doubt have given the squad a stern talking to, so a narrow win for the hosts is not out of the question.
However, after the Bavarians' Champions League loss against Basel, the club's hierarchy will no doubt have given the squad a stern talking to, so a narrow win for the hosts is not out of the question.
Editor's Prediction
Bayern 2-1 Schalke 
