After what was an embarrassing defeat last weekend, the Monchengladbach boys will be hoping to bounce back when they host Wolfsburg at Borussia Park on Saturday afternoon. The visitors also need a reprieve.
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Bookmaker Ratings prediction one: Handicap – Wolfsburg +1 Handicap – 1.80
Bookmaker Ratings prediction two: Total Goals – Over 2.5 Goals – 1.85
Wolfsburg +1 Handicap
Neither side arrives here in great form, but the visitors must fancy themselves to get something from this game. We once again saw how easily the hosts can be got at last weekend, and it’s that defensive instability which has led to them losing five of their last six in all competitions at Borussia Park. After their recent away win, the Wolves can get a positive result here, or at least they look to have a better chance of doing so than the early prices suggest.
Over 2.5 Goals
It’s been a case of goals, goals and more goals for Gladbach in recent weeks, with seven of their last eight fixtures containing three or more goals. Similarly, each of their last nine home fixtures have contained at least three goals.
Prior to last weekend’s trip to Signal Iduna Park, Adi Hutter’s men looked to have steadied the ship. They were unbeaten in two and coming off the back of their first win in six matches. Spirits were up, though the players in white quickly came crashing back down to earth as they were hit for six by a rampant and unrelenting Dortmund outfit.
Not for the first time, defensive frailties came back to haunt Gladbach, and their less than secure back-line has now become a serious problem. Saturday’s hosts haven’t kept a clean sheet since November, while they’ve conceded two or more in four of their last five in the Bundesliga. Even at home, the floodgates have been open far too often, with Gladbach conceding in each of their last five at Borussia Park, conceding at least twice in each of those five.
The visitors haven’t exactly covered themselves in defensive glory of late, while they too come into this fixture off the back of a disappointing defeat, though they lost narrowly last time out and have kept a few clean sheets of late, which is certainly more than can be said for the hosts, who’ve conceded 13 goals in their last five, compared to the five conceded by Wolfsburg.
One thing that has held the visitors back this season is their form on the road. Yes, they picked up a timely win away against Frankfurt in their most recent road game, but they’d lost four on the spin prior to that. The reason behind their relative lack of points on the road has been a lack of goals scored. Florian Kohfeldt’s men have failed to score in four of their last five on the road.
The ‘safest’ option here must be ‘Both Teams to Score’. We all know that Gladbach can’t keep a clean sheet for love nor money right now, but they’re no strangers to getting on the score-sheet. Both teams have scored in 73% of Gladbach’s home games this season, including each of their last five at Borussia Park.
The hosts will still be without Lars Stindl, while Mamadou Doucoure continues to nurse an injury. Paulo Otavio is out for the visitors, alongside Xaver Schlager.
Monchengladbach: Sommer, Ginter, Friedrich, Elvedi, Lainer, Kone, Neuhaus, Bensebaini, Hofmann, Plea, Embolo.
Wolfsburg: Casteels, Lacroix, Bornauw, Brooks, Baku, Arnold, Vranckx, Roussillon, Philipp, Kruse, Older Wind.
Aster Vranckx
Belgian youngster Aster Vranckx has started to make a sizable impact for Wolfsburg in recent weeks, scoring twice against Furth earlier this month, and he’s now averaging a combined 0.31 expected goals and assists per 90 minutes.
Earlier in the campaign, Monchengladbach beat Wolfsburg by three goals to one.
This game will be played at Borussia Park, the home of Monchengladbach.
We recommend checking out both William Hill and Vbet ahead of this fixture.