Borussia Monchengladbach will be desperate to record all three points when they host Eintracht Frankfurt in the Bundesliga on Wednesday evening.
The hosts come into the clash at Borussia-Park on the back of three big losses in a row, whilst the visitors are in high spirits following an excellent result last time out.
Match preview
© Reuters
Pressure continues to build on manager Adi Hutter at Monchengladbach ahead of the midweek round of action in the Bundesliga, following three consecutive defeats that have seen an awful return of 14 goals conceded in the process.
The 4-1 derby loss to Rhine neighbours FC Koln was followed by the humiliation of a 6-0 home defeat to Freiburg, where all six goals were conceded inside the opening 40 minutes.
Although a response was expected from his players, Hutter oversaw his side fall to another heavy loss at the weekend, with Die Fohlen going down 4-1 at RB Leipzig on Sunday.
Gladbach's defence remained worryingly open, and had their opponents been more clinical, the losing margin could have been widened even further following another poor display.
As a result of the last couple of weeks, Gladbach have fallen to 13th in the Bundesliga table ahead of matchday 16, with just two points separating themselves from Augsburg in the relegation playoff spot.
The European places were the aim for Hutter following his summer arrival, but unless he can turn results around quickly and shore up the defence, the Austrian may not be given the opportunity to see out the season.
Hutter will be eager to begin his side's revival with a victory over his former side on Wednesday, after he left Frankfurt to join Gladbach following a fifth-placed finish with the Eagles last campaign.
© Reuters
Meanwhile, following a fantastic comeback win at home to Bayer Leverkusen on Sunday, visitors Frankfurt head to face their former boss at Borussia-Park in ninth place at the time of writing.
After finding themselves 2-0 down inside 22 minutes to their third-placed opponents, goals from Tuta and Jesper Lindstrom pulled Die Adler level within seven minutes.
An unlikely comeback was complete and sealed emphatically with a devastating counter-attacking performance in the second half, with Evan N'Dicka, Kristijan Jakic and Djibril Sow finding the back of the net for Oliver Glasner's side.
Glasner will fancy his chances against his predecessor on Wednesday, with his new side in a good run of form ahead of their away trip, after winning four of their last five Bundesliga fixtures.
The initial slow start to the season is a distant memory for Frankfurt now, where the European hopefuls struggled to finish their chances in front of goal and found themselves drawing far too many games as a result.
After finding the back of the net on 25 occasions in their last 13 games though, Glasner and his side have pulled away from the relegation places and climbed the table rapidly in recent weeks, which leaves them just two points off the desired European spots prior to Wednesday's visit to Gladbach.
- W
- D
- W
- L
- L
- L
- D
- W
- W
- W
- L
- W
- W
- D
- W
- L
- D
- W
Team News
© Reuters
Matters got even worse during the heavy defeat in Leipzig for Gladbach on Sunday, with captain Lars Stindl picking up his fifth yellow card of the campaign.
The forward will miss Wednesday's clash as a result, along with Jonas Hofmann, who was replaced early in the second half of that encounter due to a thigh injury.
Jordan Beyer is the only other absentee though, which means that Alassane Plea could join Marcus Thuram and Breel Embolo in a dangerous front three for the hosts.
As for the visitors, their impressive victory over Leverkusen on Sunday did come at a cost, with attacking midfielders Lindstrom and Jens Petter Hauge being forced off.
The former was suffering from illness before his replacement at half time, so his availability remains to be seen, whilst the latter came on in his place but lasted less than 20 minutes after coming off with a muscular problem.
As a result, Filip Kostic could move into a more advanced role further up the pitch, with Timothy Chandler being an option to fill in at wing-back for the Serbian.
Borussia Monchengladbach possible starting lineup:
Sommer; Scally, Ginter, Elvedi, Bensebaini; Neuhaus, Zakaria, Kone; Plea, Embolo, Thuram
Eintracht Frankfurt possible starting lineup:
Trapp; Tuta, Hinteregger, N'Dicka; Costa, Jakic, Sow, Chandler; Kamada, Kostic; Borre
We say: Borussia Monchengladbach 1-2 Eintracht Frankfurt
We believe that Frankfurt could edge this encounter against their former boss on Wednesday, to pile the misery and the pressure on him in the process.
Gladbach are in real trouble following recent results and performances, whilst Frankfurt have turned a corner since their slow start to the season and come into this one in high spirits.
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 44.77%. A win for Eintracht Frankfurt had a probability of 31.41% and a draw had a probability of 23.8%.
The most likely scoreline for a Borussia Monchengladbach win was 2-1 with a probability of 9.15%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-0 (8%) and 2-0 (6.69%). The likeliest Eintracht Frankfurt win was 1-2 (7.48%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (10.93%). The actual scoreline of 2-3 was predicted with a 2.9% likelihood. Our team at Sports Mole correctly predicted that Eintracht Frankfurt would win this match.
