Borussia Monchengladbach host top-four rival Borussia Dortmund in a massive fixture at Borussia Park on Saturday afternoon.
The home side have seen their aspirations of winning the Bundesliga collapse as inconsistent form over their last six games has cost them in the title picture.
Six points now separate Borussia Monchengladbach and first-placed Bayern Munich. A loss to third-placed Borussia Dortmund on Saturday at home and the hopes of bringing the title to Monchengladbach will be extinguished.
Borussia Dortmund are four points off of Bayern Munich. They have a good chance to draw closer to the reigning champions. The yellow and black have won three straight games in the Bundesliga keeping three straight clean sheets in the process.
Lucien Favre is still without captain Marco Reus. The winger is out “indefinitely” due to his latest injury. Reus has already missed around a month’s worth of games due to muscle tissue damage.
Reus scored 12 goals in 26 games and his scoring in the final third has been missed. The good news is January signing Erling Haaland has scored nine goals in seven games since joining. Jadon Sancho has scored or assisted a goal in his last seven matches.
Haaland has not gone back to back games in the German Bundesliga without scoring. He failed to find the back of the net against Freiburg last week, so is good value to score once more this week.
Borussia Monchengladbach manager Marco Rose could have Fabian Johnson back in the team for the game on Saturday. The full-back has recovered from an illness and could be available for selection.
Favre’s Borussia Dortmund won each of their previous nine Bundesliga matches versus Borussia Monchengladbach. The visitors also defeated the Foals in the DFB Cup earlier this season.The Foals have not defeated Borussia Dortmund since April 2015 which came at Borussia Park.
Earlier this season, Borussia Dortmund just edged Borussia Monchengladbach 1-0. Reus scored in the 58th minute to give the yellow and black for the win. Reus will be absent on Saturday but Haaland and Sancho could be enough to power them to victory.
Eight of the last 13 games between the two clubs ended with both teams scoring goals. Nine of the last 13 matches between Gladbach and Dortmund finished with over 2.5 goals scored.
Saturday’s game should be a thriller with both clubs desperate to keep their Bundesliga title hopes alive. Borussia Dortmund will edge the Foals once more with over 2.5 goals and both teams scoring.