Borussia Monchengladbach will be looking to close in on the top six in the Bundesliga with a victory on Saturday afternoon, when they host basement club Greuther Furth at Borussia-Park.
The visitors, meanwhile, are still seeking their first win of the campaign and will be desperate to avoid a 10th successive league defeat.
Match preview
Now that the international break has come to a close, Borussia Monchengladbach will be looking to put a more consistent run of form together in the Bundesliga and climb into the European places.
Die Fohlen have won three, drawn three and lost two of their last seven top-flight matches, including a 1-1 draw in their last league game against Mainz on November 5.
Monchengladbach currently sit ninth in the table after accumulating 15 points from their first 11 matches – only once in the last 10 Bundesliga seasons have they picked up fewer points at this stage.
Fortunately for Adi Hutter's men, they are only four points behind Wolfsburg in fourth and just three behind Bayer Leverkusen in sixth, so there is still plenty of time to get back on track and contend for a place in Europe next season.
Die Fohlen should be confident of claiming all three points on Saturday against basement club Greuther Furth, who they are unbeaten against in each of their last 10 meetings, winning eight in the process.
Monchengladbach have also won each of their last six Bundesliga matches against teams beginning the day at the foot of the table – winning by an aggregate score of 16-3. Their last defeat against the bottom-placed side was in January 2018, losing 2-1 to FC Koln.
In just their second ever Bundesliga campaign, Greuther Furth continue to struggle at the wrong end of the table, after accumulating just one point from a possible 33 available, the fewest points claimed at this stage in German top-flight history.
After claiming their solitary point from their second game of the season against Arminia Bielefeld, the Cloverleaves have since lost nine successive league matches, including a 2-1 home defeat to Eintracht Frankfurt in their most recent fixture before the international break.
Furth's miserable losing run is the longest in the Bundesliga since Hannover's nine-game streak in the 2009-10 season. There have only been four longer losing runs in German top-flight history – the last was by Arminia Bielefeld back in the 1999-2000 campaign (10).
With nine points already separating them from safety, and only a third of the way through the season, Stefan Leitl's men seem destined for an immediate return to the second tier.
Unsurprisingly, Furth head into this weekend's clash with Monchengladbach as the only Bundesliga side yet to claim any points away from home this season, losing all six matches by an aggregate score of 20-5.
The Cloverleaves are also one of only three teams in Europe's top five leagues – along with Newcastle United and Levante – who are yet to win this season, but a surprise three points against Monchengladbach could act as a much-needed springboard to turn their fortunes around and begin a miraculous escape from the drop zone.
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Team News
Monchengladbach will be without Tony Jantschke (skull fracture), Breel Embolo (hip) and Jordan Beyer (tendon) due to long-term injuries.
However, Nico Elvedi (ankle), Christoph Kramer (thigh) and Mamadou Doucoure (Achilles) could all return before the end of this month and will be assessed ahead of kickoff this weekend.
Forward Marcus Thuram – who came off the bench against Mainz – has had more time to fully recover from a muscle problem over the international break and he should now be in contention to start in attack alongside Alassane Plea.
As for Greuther Furth, Leitl can welcome Dickson Abiama, Maximilian Bauer, Sascha Burchert, Jeremy Dudziak and Nils Seufert back into the squad after they all missed their last league game following a coronavirus outbreak at the club.
However, the visitors remain without Justin Hoogma, Robin Kehr, Gideon Jung and Jessic Ngankam who are all suffering with knee injuries, while Nick Viergever is ruled out with an ankle problem.
Defensive midfielder Sebastian Griesbeck is set to start again at centre-back alongside Hans Nunoo Sarpei, while former Rangers striker Cedric Itten is expected to lead the line with Branimir Hrgota.
Borussia Monchengladbach possible starting lineup:
Sommer; Scally, Ginter, Bensebaini, Netz; Zakaria, Kone; Stindl; Hofmann, Plea, Thuram
Greuther Furth possible starting lineup:
Funk; Meyerhofer, Sarpei, Griesbeck, Willems; Green, Christiansen, Seguin, Leweling; Itten, Hrgota
We say: Borussia Monchengladbach 3-1 Greuther Furth
Borussia Monchengladbach have only kept one clean sheet in the Bundesliga this season, so that should give the visitors hope of finding the net on Saturday.
Nevertheless, the hosts have the firepower in attack to outscore their opponents and should have no problems in securing all three points at Borussia-Park.
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