Borussia Monchengladbach welcome Arminia Bielefeld to Borussia-Park on Sunday, with both sides looking for their first league wins of the new campaign.
The hosts have picked up just a single point under their new manager, whilst their visitors have actually drawn each of their opening three matches in the Bundesliga.
Match preview
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After replacing the departed Marco Rose in the summer, manager Adi Hutter knew he had big shoes to fill at Gladbach, but the new man will be disappointed with how life has started at his new side.
Die Fohlen would have been hoping for a new lease of life after a disappointing eighth-place finish in 2020-21 put a slight dampener on a largely successful spell under Rose.
Instead, they have started with a single draw and two defeats in the Bundesliga, which sees them unexpectedly hovering just above the relegation places.
Although the league table should not be taken too seriously in these early stages, Hutter will be eager to get the first win on the board to lift them back up the table and into the fight for the European places once more.
After beginning with a bright performance and 1-1 draw in the Bundesliga opener at home to champions Bayern Munich, the Foals followed it up with a 4-0 hammering at the hands of Bayer Leverkusen and a 2-1 defeat away to Union Berlin most recently before the international break.
With a relegation-tipped side visiting at the weekend, whom they did the double over last season, the hosts will view it as the perfect opportunity to earn their first league win of the new campaign.
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Meanwhile, although visitors Bielefeld have also begun their season winless in league action, they have at least managed to remain unbeaten.
Although it may not have been pretty, manager Frank Kramer will be pleased with his side's fight and strong defensive performances on display in their opening three matches.
After finishing just one place and two points above the relegation playoff spot in 2020-21, Bielefeld have been tipped to struggle again this season.
One of the main reasons for their struggles last season was the lack of goals going forward, with only 26 Bundesliga goals scored in 34 games. The early signs are that little has changed so far, with only two league goals scored from the first three games.
Most recently, and in the last match before the international break, this weekend's visitors earned a positive 1-1 draw against European hopefuls Eintracht Frankfurt on home soil.
Patrick Wimmer's late equaliser earned Bielefeld a point in a match where they saw little of the ball and created very little as usual, but Kramer will have been happy with his team's determination in the second half to pull back level.
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Team News
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Important forward Marcus Thuram continues to be absent for Sunday's hosts. The Frenchman remains injured with a knee problem that he picked up in the 4-0 defeat to Leverkusen.
Regular right-back Stefan Lainer also remains absent since that defeat but the emergence of youngster Joe Scally means that his absence is not felt so hard after all.
Amazingly, Matthias Ginter also left the field injured against Leverkusen, but he returns in central defence on Sunday.
Laszlo Benes, Mamadou Doucoure and Kouadio Kone join Thuram and Lainer on the list of absentees.
Meanwhile, Jacob Laursen looks set to return at left-back for visitors Bielefeld, who also welcome back Alessandro Schopf from suspension.
Edimilson Fernandes misses out through illness, though, whilst long-term absentee Sebastian Vasiliadis is also unavailable for the away side.
Andres Andrade is listed as a doubt due to match fitness, with him taking part in all three of Panama's fixtures during the international break up until the early hours of Thursday morning.
Borussia Monchengladbach possible starting lineup:
Sommer; Scally, Ginter, Elvedi, Bensebaini; Kramer, Neuhaus; Hofmann, Stindl, Wolf; Plea
Arminia Bielefeld possible starting lineup:
Ortega; Brunner, Pieper, Nilsson, Laursen; Schopf, Kunze, Prietl, Hack; Klos, Okugawa
We say: Borussia Monchengladbach 2-1 Arminia Bielefeld
Although Bielefeld have made themselves difficult to beat and Gladbach are playing nowhere near their best football currently, the hosts should still possess too much quality for their visitors. If they are to fight it out for the European places this season, these are the games they need to be winning for sure. It will be tough, but we think they will just edge out their opponents here.
Top tip
Matthew Tranter
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Borussia Monchengladbach win with a probability of 54.02%. A draw had a probability of 23.2% and a win for Arminia Bielefeld had a probability of 22.79%.
The most likely scoreline for a Borussia Monchengladbach win was 1-0 with a probability of 10.11%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (9.81%) and 2-0 (9.07%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (10.94%), while for an Arminia Bielefeld win it was 0-1 (6.1%). The actual scoreline of 3-1 was predicted with a 5.9% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Borussia Monchengladbach would win this match.
