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INPLAY - Last weekend’s 2-0 defeat in Leipzig was just a road bump in Borussia Monchengladbach’s best start to a Bundesliga campaign since 2012. Gladbach strung together three wins in a row before that – the perfect way for them to solidify their return to form after the hiccup that was consecutive defeats to Freiburg (a 3-1 defeat in the Bundesliga) and Bayer Leverkusen (a 5-0 defeat in the DFB Pokal) – and Die Fohlen will no doubt be looking to do the same again on Sunday. Key to their success has been the form of attacking trio Thorgan Hazard, Alassane Plea and captain Lars Stindl. Brazilian forward Raffael adds to that attacking threat after returning from a spell sidelined, though he’d be hard-pressed to break up the in-form front line, who have scored seven of Gladbach’s last ten goals.
After starting out with defeats in each of his first three managerial outings, Stuttgart boss Markus Weinzierl has led the South Germans to six points from their last three (W2 L1). Greek forward Anastasios Donis returned from injury to bag the winner against Augsburg last weekend, his second of the season, and coach Weinzierl will no doubt give him a chance to keep his spot in the starting XI, with his side still struggling for goals – no team in the Bundesliga has scored fewer. Those three points have pushed Stuttgart out of the automatic relegation places, but a tough run of fixtures ahead, starting with this away trip to Gladbach, will show just how much their new manager has improved.
Unfortunately for them, it’s hard not to think that Gladbach will get the points on Sunday. Stuttgart are one of the weaker sides overall in the Bundesliga – not much has changed in that respect since last season – and they’ve been a very “travel sick” side in 18/19 (W1 D1 L5). Admittedly, they’ve had an unfavourable run of fixtures on the road, but if they were unable to put up a fight against teams like RB Leipzig (2-0 defeat), Hoffenheim (4-0 defeat), or Bayer Leverkusen (2-0 defeat), why might that be any different against an in-form Gladbach side? You could say “because their defence has got a bit better in the last few weeks”, but keeping clean sheets against Nurnberg (the 3rd weakest offense) and Augsburg, who were without top scorer Finnbogason, isn’t overly impressive, especially when Gladbach have scored three goals or more in each of their last four home outings.
It’s hard to criticise Gladbach much at all really, and a few key names deserve a mention: forward Alassane Plea has cemented himself as one of the signings of the summer (8 goals in 13 appearances), while midfielder Thorgan Hazard has also come into his own this season – he’s scored 8 goals and assisted 4 across all competitions. However, if you had to criticise one aspect of this Gladbach side, it would be in their defence. Goalkeeper Yann Sommer has been forced to make more saves than most other goalkeepers in the Bundesliga, and with Stuttgart finding some sort of scoring form, we could see them getting a goal. Gladbach have kept a clean sheet in just 31% of their matches this season after all. My prediction: 3-1 Borussia Monchengladbach.
Last weekend’s 2-0 defeat in Leipzig was just a road bump in Borussia Monchengladbach’s best start to a Bundesliga campaign since 2012. Gladbach strung together three wins in a row before that – the perfect way for them to solidify their return to form after the hiccup that was consecutive defeats to Freiburg (a 3-1 defeat in the Bundesliga) and Bayer Leverkusen (a 5-0 defeat in the DFB Pokal) – and Die Fohlen will no doubt be looking to do the same again on Sunday. Key to their success has been the form of attacking trio Thorgan Hazard, Alassane Plea and captain Lars Stindl. Brazilian forward Raffael adds to that attacking threat after returning from a spell sidelined, though he’d be hard-pressed to break up the in-form front line, who have scored seven of Gladbach’s last ten goals.
After starting out with defeats in each of his first three managerial outings, Stuttgart boss Markus Weinzierl has led the South Germans to six points from their last three (W2 L1). Greek forward Anastasios Donis returned from injury to bag the winner against Augsburg last weekend, his second of the season, and coach Weinzierl will no doubt give him a chance to keep his spot in the starting XI, with his side still struggling for goals – no team in the Bundesliga has scored fewer. Those three points have pushed Stuttgart out of the automatic relegation places, but a tough run of fixtures ahead, starting with this away trip to Gladbach, will show just how much their new manager has improved.
Unfortunately for them, it’s hard not to think that Gladbach will get the points on Sunday. Stuttgart are one of the weaker sides overall in the Bundesliga – not much has changed in that respect since last season – and they’ve been a very “travel sick” side in 18/19 (W1 D1 L5). Admittedly, they’ve had an unfavourable run of fixtures on the road, but if they were unable to put up a fight against teams like RB Leipzig (2-0 defeat), Hoffenheim (4-0 defeat), or Bayer Leverkusen (2-0 defeat), why might that be any different against an in-form Gladbach side? You could say “because their defence has got a bit better in the last few weeks”, but keeping clean sheets against Nurnberg (the 3rd weakest offense) and Augsburg, who were without top scorer Finnbogason, isn’t overly impressive, especially when Gladbach have scored three goals or more in each of their last four home outings.
It’s hard to criticise Gladbach much at all really, and a few key names deserve a mention: forward Alassane Plea has cemented himself as one of the signings of the summer (8 goals in 13 appearances), while midfielder Thorgan Hazard has also come into his own this season – he’s scored 8 goals and assisted 4 across all competitions. However, if you had to criticise one aspect of this Gladbach side, it would be in their defence. Goalkeeper Yann Sommer has been forced to make more saves than most other goalkeepers in the Bundesliga, and with Stuttgart finding some sort of scoring form, we could see them getting a goal. Gladbach have kept a clean sheet in just 31% of their matches this season after all. My prediction: 3-1 Borussia Monchengladbach.