Where to watch Bayern Munich vs Stuttgart

Bayern Munich v Stuttgart: opening day at the Allianz Arena

The German Bundesliga season begins here. Bayern Munich host Stuttgart at the Allianz Arena on Friday 28 August, kicking off at 6:30pm UK time, and it's round one, so there is nothing on the pitch yet to argue about. That's part of the appeal. Nobody has dropped points, nobody has a crisis, and both clubs get to start the campaign with a clean sheet in the other sense of the phrase.

What the table actually tells you

Bayern sit top, Stuttgart fourth. Ignore both facts. With nothing played, no wins, no draws, no losses and a goal difference of zero apiece, these are placeholder positions rather than a verdict on anything. Check the Bundesliga table again in a month and it will mean something. Right now it's alphabetical dressed up as sporting fact.

Form: there isn't any yet

Normally this is where you'd get four wins in five or a run of clean sheets to chew over. Not this time. Neither side has a completed match this season, so there's no form to read and nothing honest to say about how either team is currently playing. Anyone telling you Bayern "look sharp" or Stuttgart "are struggling" based on pre-season noise is guessing. We'd rather wait for actual matches.

Players to watch

We don't have confirmed team news or individual stats for this fixture yet, so we won't pretend otherwise by naming names that haven't been confirmed. Once squads and starting line-ups are out, that's the moment to look at who's carrying the goal threat and who's been left out. Keep an eye on the Bayern Munich team page and the Stuttgart team page closer to kick-off for that detail.

Head-to-head record

We don't hold a head-to-head record for these two clubs in our data, so there's nothing here to lean on. That's unusual for a Bundesliga fixture between two clubs of this size, and it's worth noting so you know it's a gap in our records rather than a genuinely blank history between them.

How to watch it

In the United Kingdom, this one is listed on BBC iPlayer, though that broadcast is currently unconfirmed. Viewers in Russia have Okko Sport RU pencilled in, also unconfirmed at this stage. Given both listings carry that caveat, it's worth checking the TV guide nearer kick-off before you make plans around either channel.

As season openers go, this has the ingredients: a five-time European Cup winner at home, a side sitting fourth without having kicked a ball, and absolutely no data to spoil the guessing. Sometimes the honest preview is the one that tells you what isn't known yet, not what is.