Bayern Munich vs Guangzhou Evergrande: Team News, Preview, Live Stream & TV Info

Bayern Munich continue their tour of China on Thursday with a fascinating clash with domestic powerhouse Guangzhou Evergrande.A team known in Europe for little more than its antics in the transfer market over the past few yearswith a whole host of Brazilian and Italian imports arriving this summer and the year beforethe Chinese side should give a good showing of themselves against Pep Guardiola's men.As such, it will be up to the German champions to raise their game as they did against Inter Milan on Monday to ensure their pre-season preparations don't go astray.Date:Thursday, July 23Time:12:30 p.m.BST, 7:30 a.m. ETVenue:Tianhe Stadium, Guangzhou, ChinaTelevision:Not availableStreaming:Not availablePredicted LineupThe one matter of interest to Bayern fans will be the state of Philipp Lahm's health after he was forced to go off with an injury in the heated clash with Inter earlier in the week. Fortunately, it seems as though the German international picked up no more than a bruise on the day, according to the club.As such, we may well expect Guardiola to stick with a relatively similar side to the one we saw against the Italian opponents on Monday, as Bayern showed up playing something of a 3-5-2.This will mean Manuel Neuer in goal, with a back three of Mehdi Benatia, Jerome Boateng and David Alaba while Xabi Alonso floats around just in front as a defensive holding midfielder.Then there will be the flat four midfielders of Thiago Alcantara and Lahm, with Douglas Costa on the right and Juan Bernat on the left as wing-back of sorts.This would then leave Thomas Muller and Robert Lewandowski to play off one another as striker partnership in the traditional sense. Two physical forwards who thoroughly enjoy floating around the final third.Key PlayerAlthough Bayern have a number of standout players to chose from, the one who seems to be attracting the most amount of attention right now is new winger Costa.Bayern signed the Brazilian from Shakhtar Donetsk for a relatively high fee, meaning he had much to prove to the club's fans, yet the performance he put on against Inter was nothing short of fantastic.Should he continue such a run in Thursday's game, then there's no denying that fans will very quickly come round to their new signing.
Click here to read full news..