Bayern München vs Arminia Bielefeld live on February 15, 2021: How to watch this Bundesliga clash live in 130+ countries

February 15, 2021 By Ali M.

Topics: TV Schedules, Bayern Munich, Arminia Bielefeld, Bundesliga

The Bundesliga champions resume their title defense after conquering the FIFA Club World Cup in Qatar last midweek. Here's a preview of their clash with Arminia Bielefeld.

Bayern München vs Arminia Bielefeld – preview

Bayern Munich return to action in the Bundesliga this midweek after conquering the FIFA Club World Cup, taking on Arminia Bielefeld on Monday. The Bavarians will host the relegation-battling side at the Allianz Arena at 2:30 p.m. ET live on ESPN+ as the reigning champions aim to move seven points clear at the top.

Hans Flick's side head into this fixture – as mentioned earlier – on the back of their recent FIFA Club World Cup success. The UEFA Champions League winners flew out to Qatar to fight to be crowned the best team in the world, which they won, beating Al Ahly 2-0 in the semis before edging out Tigres UANL 1-0 in the final courtesy of a 58th-minute winner from Benjamin Pavard.

That victory saw the German giants complete the coveted sextuple, lifting their sixth title in a year – the Bundesiga, DFB Pokal, UEFA Champions League, German Super Cup, the UEFA Super Cup, and now the FIFA Club World Cup. This also completed a remarkable turnaround under Flick, with Lewandowski and Co. going from an inconsistent team under previous manager Niko Kovac to a rampant side under their current boss.

In fact, Flick has won more titles since taking over Bayern Munich than he has lost games, suffering only five defeats. Will Arminia Bielefeld hand the 55-year-old tactician his sixth loss at the Allianz Arena? Form doesn't suggest this. The Bundesliga champions boast a seven-game winning streak and while they did suffer back-to-back defeats in early to mid-January – against Borussia M'gladbach and Holstein Kiel – those were their only two losses in their last 29 fixtures across all competitions.

As for their opposition, they have been nothing short of atrocious this season, hence their relegation battle. With only five wins out of 19 games in 2020/21, having picked up only 17 points out of a possible 57, Arminia Bielefeld find themselves in 16th. They sit three-points clear of 17th-placed Mainz and eight clear of bottom-of-the-table Schalke, meaning they are more likely to enter the relegation playoff than go down. However, with only four wins from their last 18 outings, things could easily get worse for Uwe Neuhaus's men.

Team news

Bayern Munich: The hosts will be without the influential Thomas Muller after the German tested positive for COVID-19 while in Qatar. Jerome Boateng remains absent due to personal reasons while Gnabry, Goretzka, Tanguy Nianzou, Nubel, and Martinez are all expected to sit this one out.

Arminia Bielefeld: The visitors have no injury concerns and have a fully-fit squad at their disposal.

Key stats

Lewandowksi has found the back of the net 28 times in his last 27 outings for Bayern.
With three goals and nine assists under his belt, his most productive season so far, Coman will be hopeful of a start.
Neuer has kept 200 clean sheets in his entire Bundesliga career and will be looking for his 201st shutout in Monday's game in a bid to overtake the all-time record holder Oliver Kahn.