Borussia Monchengladbach will be looking to bounce back from a dreadful past week when they host Europe-chasing Union Berlin at Borussia-Park on Saturday.
The hosts were defeated in a Rhine Derby last weekend before exiting the DFB-Pokal to lower-league opposition in midweek, whilst the in-form visitors head into the clash on the back of a Berlin derby victory in the cup.
Match preview
After shocking the Bundesliga by defeating Bayern Munich on their own patch two weeks ago, many expected Gladbach to kick on from there and finally climb the table following a disappointing start to the campaign under Adi Hutter.
However, a 2-1 defeat to Rhine rivals Bayer Leverkusen at Borussia-Park last weekend halted any hopes of a revival in form.
If not for Yann Sommer's incredible display in between the posts, matters could have been far worse for Die Fohlen, with their neighbours recording a remarkable 32 shots on their goal, of which 14 were on target.
Sommer saved two penalties last Saturday, but despite his heroics, and Nico Elvedi's goal that halved the deficit late on, Gladbach came away empty handed for the ninth time already this season.
A response will have been expected in midweek when Hutter's men travelled to 2.Bundesliga side Hannover in search for a place in the quarter-finals of the DFB-Pokal, but despite naming arguably the strongest side available to him, the Austrian boss witnessed his side fall to a humiliating 3-0 defeat.
If the pressure was not already on Hutter, then it certainly will be now after the past week of disappointment, and this has contributed to Gladbach's lowly league position of 12th heading into matchday 20, with just four points separating them from the relegation zone.
For a side expected to be challenging for the European spots along with their opponents on Saturday, a current eight-point gap will be deemed unacceptable, so performances and results will need to improve drastically if they are to salvage anything positive from this campaign.
Meanwhile, Union's past week could not have been much more positive in contrast to their hosts at the weekend.
A 2-1 home win over high-flying Hoffenheim last weekend was followed by a thrilling 3-2 victory in the DFB-Pokal at the home of their rivals Hertha Berlin.
Andreas Voglsammer and Grischa Promel netted the goals in the league action against Hoffenheim, with the come-from-behind victory lifting Urs Fischer's side into fifth place at the time of writing, and level on points with their opponents on that day.
After earning a place in this season's Europa Conference League following an impressive seventh-place finish last campaign, Union continue to threaten to disrupt the bigger names at the top of the Bundesliga, and if their impressive opening to the 2021-22 season continues, then they will take some stopping in reaching a Europa league, or even Champions League place, for the 2022-23 campaign.
As mentioned above, Die Eisernen also boosted their DFB-Pokal hopes by defeating their city rivals Hertha on Wednesday evening to book their spot in the quarter-finals.
Voglsammer netted for the second time in the space of a few days to open the scoring, before a Niklas Stark own goal and Robin Knoche strike helped Union on their way to a first victory at the home of their rivals for 11 years.
That win, as well as the victory over fellow European hopefuls Hoffenheim last weekend, means Union head to Borussia-Park on Saturday full of confidence in achieving yet another positive result.
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Team News
After being restored to the starting 11 in midweek, defender Matthias Ginter should start once more on Saturday, with new signing Marvin Friedrich, signed from opponents Union recently, set to start alongside him in the three-man back line.
Denis Zakaria returned from his hip injury with an appearance from the bench against Hannover as well, and he will be pushing to start ahead of Kouadio Kone or Florian Neuhaus in the centre of the pitch.
Christoph Kramer will sit out again with a cold, whilst Mamadou Doucoure and Jonas Hofmann are also ruled out due to COVID-19 and a knee injury respectively.
Ramy Bensebaini is the only other absentee, with the defender remaining on international duty with Algeria at the Africa Cup of Nations.
As for the visitors, Niko Giesselmann could return at left wing-back in place of Bastian Oczipka, with the former recently suffering from a hip injury.
Top goalscorer Taiwo Awoniyi remains with Nigeria at AFCON, whilst Pawel Wszolek, Laurenz Dehl and Rick Van Drongelen remain sidelined.
Fischer could opt to make changes to his starting 11 to freshen things up, following a tiring derby clash on Wednesday.
Borussia Monchengladbach possible starting lineup:
Sommer; Ginter, Elvedi, Friedrich; Lainer, Zakaria, Neuhaus, Scally; Stindl, Thuram; Embolo
Union Berlin possible starting lineup:
Luthe; Baumgartl, Knoche, Heintz; Trimmel, Oztunali, Khedira, Promel, Giesselmann; Voglsammer, Kruse
We say: Borussia Monchengladbach 1-1 Union Berlin
Union are not as effective on their travels despite their success at Hertha in midweek, but with them being in such high spirits and strong form, we believe they will come away with something at Gladbach on Saturday.
The hosts are in all sorts of trouble and lack any consistency, so we can see goals being scored at both ends of the pitch and it being an even encounter, so a draw seems a likely outcome.
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