Borussia Monchengladbach will look to build on a positive start to 2024 when they welcome Augsburg to Borussia-Park on Sunday.
A 3-1 win over high-flying Stuttgart last weekend should give Gladbach belief they can mount a charge for Europe in the second half of this Bundesliga season.
Match preview
© Reuters
In what was an ideal start to the new year, the Stuttgart win was a continuation to the fine home form that has been a big positive all season for Gladbach.
That extended their home unbeaten run to eight games where they have won six, but more results like that will be needed if they are to threaten the European places.
Given that an underdog could well win the wide-open DFB-Pokal, that could see only the top six in the Bundesliga claim European qualification via the league.
Gladbach's current position does not look too promising at present, as they are seven points adrift of Eintracht Frankfurt in sixth.
If they can turn their abundance of goals into wins, then they will have a chance of making up ground, as nobody outside of the top four has found the net more often than Gerardo Seoane's side.
The glaring issue remains defensive fragility, as only Darmstadt at the foot of the Bundesliga have conceded more goals.
Gladbach have made light work of Augsburg in recent years though, as they have won five of their previous six home fixtures against their upcoming opponents.
The visitors come into this fixture on the back of a heartbreaking late defeat against league leaders Bayer Leverkusen last weekend.
© Reuters
After proving difficult to break down for the majority of the match, Exequiel Palacios's 94th-minute winner settled the fixture, in which Augsburg offered very little threat, failing to register a single shot on target all afternoon.
That means, for the first time under Jess Thorup, Augsburg are four games without a win.
Coming into this game with just one win in their last 21 away games suggests they will struggle to end that winless run here either.
Having conceded 32 goals at the midway point of the season, Augsburg have made their worst start to a season in that regard in their top-flight history, as they are also the only Bundesliga club yet to keep a clean sheet.
They are still not in any imminent danger though despite their winless run, as Augsburg remain seven points clear of trouble in 12th, with the club destined for a mid-table finish this season.
Team News
© Reuters
After returning to training earlier this week, Gladbach's Czech forward Tomas Cvancara has picked another ankle issue and will miss the next few weeks.
Cvancara is one of a number of injury absentees for the hosts, as Manu Kone, Alassane Plea and Hannes Wolf are also all out.
First-choice goalkeeper Jonas Omlin remains sidelined with a shoulder problem, so Moritz Nicolas will continue to deputise as he has done for the past few months.
With Ko Itakura away on international duty, Seoane will hope Max Wober can recover from illness to feature in the centre of defence, but Julian Weigl will be absent in midfield after picking up a suspension last weekend.
Augsburg also have Niklas Dorsch suspended after he picked up a booking last week, but Mads Pedersen will return after serving a ban of his own.
There are doubts about Pedersen's fitness though, as an ankle issue saw him miss their mid-season friendly with Hoffenheim.
Fredrik Jensen and Raphael Framberger are also out with injury, while Japhet Tanganga and Masaya Okugawa both departed the club last week after failing to break into the side.
Borussia Monchengladbach possible starting lineup:
Nicolas; Scally, Friedrich, Elvedi, Netz; Reitz, Kramer, Neuhaus; Honorat, Siebatcheu, Hack
Augsburg possible starting lineup:
Dahmen; Mbabu, Gouweleeuw, Uduokhai, Iago; Engels, Maier, Rexhbecaj, Vargas; Demirovic, Tietz
We say: Borussia Monchengladbach 2-1 Augsburg
Gladbach come into this game as favourites given their very strong home form, which has seen them go unbeaten in eight here, but their leaky defensive record suggests the visitors will get opportunities.
Augsburg's dismal away form means this could be a tough afternoon, as they will need to improve on a record of just one win from 21 away from home if they are to arrest a four-game winless run.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
