Verdict: Away win
Best odds: 8/15
Bookmaker: William Hill
On Saturday evening, Borussia Monchengladbach will welcome Bayern Munich to their Borussia Park stadium for a game that could prove vital for the subsequent course of the season in the Bundesliga.
Borussia Monchengladbach
The home team can be very accurately described as the surprise of the season so far. After 13 rounds, they sit atop of the Bundesliga table, no less, with 28 points to their name. It’s rather tight at the top, however, and they will not find it easy to hold that position for very long.
Despite the unexpected lead in the table, Monchengladbach haven’t really had any particular results that could be rightly described as surprising. Of the top five teams, they’ve already lost to RB Leipzig and Borussia Dortmund and drew with Schalke 04. Now it’s Bayern – the last of those – they’re about to face. They have, however, been getting great results against the rest of the league and that is why they, and not any other team, lead the way.
Team News
Boss Marco Rose cannot count on defenders Andreas Poulsen and Florian Mayer, or midfielder Torben Musel, who have all been out for a while. Defender Mathias Ginter will be assessed ahead of the game, having missed the win over SC Freiburg last week with a muscular issue.
Bayern Munich
Given the way that the Bavarians have been dominating the German football scene in recent years, it is only natural that any position in the Bundesliga but the top one is not considered acceptable from their point of view. The season hasn’t been going as well as they would’ve liked, and they’ve already parted ways with head coach Niko Kovac, replacing him with Hans Flick on a temporary basis. It remains to be seen if he will get the job full-time, or another, more established name comes in.
After the measure had been taken, it seemed at first it would produce desired results, but last week’s defeat at the Allianz Arena at the hands of Bayer Leverkusen saw Bayern crash down to reality. They are currently in fourth place with 24 points from 13 games, but a win here would certainly stake a stronger claim to another title come the end of the season. Still, there is a long way to go until then.
Team News
Defenders Niklas Sule and Lucas Hernandez are out of contention, as is 19-year-old forward Jann-Fiete Arp.
Flick certainly won’t have much to think about when it comes to his main man upfront. Robert Lewandowski has so far scored 27 goals in 21 games in all competitions this season, a truly impressive output, and the Gladbach defence will have to be on their toes for the full 90 minutes.
Conclusion
It feels as if this is the time when the champions will awaken. The table rankings and the fact that the game is being played at the Borussia Park should certainly be taken into account, but the quality of the team is clearly on Bayern’s side. If the Bavarians play as they know how, then the hosts should have very little to say in the contest.
Verdict: Away win
Best odds: 8/15
Bookmaker: William Hill
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