Borussia Monchengladbach vs Bayer Leverkusen: Bundesliga: Match Preview and Prediction

Football is back on its feet as the Bundesliga season rolls on. Bayer Leverkusen travels to the Borussia-Park to take on Borussia Monchengladbach in a mouth-watering clash.

Both the clubs have had fairly decent season so far with only two points separating them in the table. This fixture is an important one as it can help Gladbach reach second in the standings. 

The Foals had a tremendous start to the season and were sitting at the first position at the end of the gameweek 14. They now sit third in the table with 16 wins and are six points behind league leaders Bayern Munich.

The Eternal Bridesmaids, on the other hand, sit fifth in the table with 15 wins to their name. If they win this tough away game, they will overtake Marco Rose's side to go third in the standings.

Recent form

Borussia Monchengladbach:- DWLWW

Bayer Leverkusen:- WWDWW

Team News

For Monchengladbach, highly-touted midfielder, Denis Zakaria is ruled out after undergoing surgery on his knee. Defenders Tony Jantschke and Ramy Bensebaini will return to strengthen the squad. 

For Leverkusen, key forward Kevin Holland will most likely miss the rest of the season. Skipper Lars Bender will be missing with a foot injury but Leon Bailey may return to the eleven.

Last time out

Monchengladbach earned a entertaining 1-2 victory with Oscar Wendt and Marcus Thuram on the scoresheet for the visitors in the reverse fixture earlier this season. Kevin Holland was the only scorer for the home side and Leon Bailey was sent off in the last seconds of the game.

Key Battles

Alassane Plea vs Mitchell Weiser

Plea has been the leading goal-scorer for Monchengladbach with nine goals to his name. The versatile Frenchman has played as a winger as well as a lone forward for Marco Rose’s side.

He scored in the very first minute of the game as Monchengladbach made a winning return with a 1-3 win over Eintracht Frankfurt last weekend. The 27-year old form a lethal front line with Breel Embolo and Marcus Thuram and they will make life very difficult for a leaky Leverkusen defence.

Weiser will bear the responsibility of stopping Plea in his tracks. His record of 2.4 tackles per game will come in handy in this tough task.

He also scored in their 1-4 win over Werder Bremen in the last gameweek. But, he needs to curtail his attacking instincts on the night as he is going to face a fearsome attacking line.

Matthias Ginter vs Kai Havertz

Ginter will fight tooth and nail with his international teammate Havertz. Ginter has been a consistent performer for Marco Rose’s side and he needs to put his best foot forward in this battle.

Havertz is the man of the hour for Leverkusen as he has already scored eight goals this season but will be looking to find the back of the net for the first time against the Foals. 

The much coveted youngster is also captaining the side and scored twice last weekend as Leverkusen made a winning return. The German international will lead the line for Peter Bosz’s side and will be looking to continue his excellent record this season.

Prediction

Borussia Monchengladbach are undefeated in 10 of their last 11 home matches in the Bundesliga. They also possess a fearsome attacking line and will look to rise in the standings with a win.

Leverkusen is unbeaten in Germany’s top flight since the start of February. They are also in a free scoring form as they have scored at least two goals in five of their last six matches in the league. 

Both the clubs are coming off thumping wins in the previous round of fixture and have conceded a whopping 31 goals this season. We predict that spoils will be shared in a high scoring game.

Score Prediction:- Borussia Monchengladbach 2-2 Bayer Leverkusen