Borussia Monchengladbach and Bayer Leverkusen round off the first Bundesliga weekend of 2023 when they meet at Borussia-Park on Sunday evening.
Underwhelming starts for both sides see the two sitting in mid-table with the midway point approaching.
Match preview
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Borussia-Park has been something of a fortress for Gladbach this season, so they will be pleased to restart their campaign in front of a home crowd, as they have won six of their eight league games here so far.
Leverkusen are their bogey team though, as they have lost five in a row against their upcoming opponents, conceding 14 goals in addition to a 5-0 defeat here in the DFB-Pokal back in 2018.
They are also now facing the prospect of life after Yann Sommer, after their stalwart goalkeeper left to join Bayern Munich earlier in the week.
Jonas Omlin has come in to replace him, but losing such a figurehead of the squad will be challenging for manager Daniel Farke.
Some indifferent form has seen Gladbach suffer quite often, as they sit down in eighth without a single clean sheet since September.
They are fortunate to have German international Jonas Hofmann on form, as no German player contributed to more Bundesliga goals (19) than Hofmann in 2022.
The Foals ended the year with a very important and impressive win over Borussia Dortmund to stay in touch with the European positions, so building on that here is of the highest importance.
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After a truly dreadful start that had some sections of the Leverkusen fanbase worrying about relegation under Gerardo Seoane, Xabi Alonso has, eventually, got them back on track.
The Spaniard won just one of his first seven matches in charge, but Leverkusen ended the first part of the season with three straight wins, including an eye-catching 5-0 win over early-season high-flyers Union Berlin.
The form of Moussa Diaby has helped a great deal too, as the French attacker has registered six goals and two assists in the seven Bundesliga games since Alonso took charge.
Bayer are still down in 12th and an outside shot of European qualification looks very unlikely, but they are set to move away from trouble, which will allow them to focus on the Europa League knockouts to come in February, after they edged out Atletico Madrid to third place in their Champions League group.
Team News
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With Sommer gone, Omlin should start in goal for Gladbach after arriving from Montpellier on Wednesday.
Top scorer Marcus Thuram has been in the spotlight given recent transfer interest in him, but he is also a doubt for this one with a knee injury.
Hannes Wolf and Florian Neuhaus are both back after enduring injury-hit seasons so far.
Patrik Schick (groin) and Charles Aranguiz (calf) will both be sidelined for Leverkusen, while winger Paulinho has gone out on loan back to his native Brazil to join Atletico Mineiro.
Jeremie Frimpong and Callum Hudson-Odoi have both come down with illness and are doubts, but Alonso will hope to have them and Timothy Fosu-Mensah available, with the latter nursing a muscle issue.
Exequiel Palacios is back after being the first Leverkusen player to win the World Cup since Lucio in 2002.
Borussia Monchengladbach possible starting lineup:
Omlin; Scally, Friedrich, Elvedi, Bensebaini; Weigl, Kone, Kramer; Hofmann, Stindl, Plea
Bayer Leverkusen possible starting lineup:
Hradecky; Tah, Tapsoba, Hincapie; Frimpong, Demirbay, Palacios, Bakker; Diaby, Adli, Hlozek
We say: Borussia Monchengladbach 2-2 Bayer Leverkusen
There are goals in both sides, but Gladbach's defensive deficiencies will only be worsened by losing Sommer.
Leverkusen love playing Gladbach and will hope to start 2023 with a victory to move further up the table, but it is tough to separate the sides on paper.
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