Two sides separated by one point and two places in the Bundesliga standings go head to head as Borussia Monchengladbach play host to FC Koln on Sunday.
Die GeiBbocke head to Borussia-Park on a run of three consecutive victories over the home side and will be looking to continue in the same vein.
Match preview
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Borussia Monchengladbach were sent crashing down to earth last Saturday as they fell to a disappointing 5-1 defeat at the hands of Werder Bremen away from home.
Twenty-nine-year-old striker Niclas Fullkrug continued his red hot form in front of goal as he scored twice and set up one at the Weserstadion to hand the hosts their biggest win of the season.
Prior to that, Daniel Farke's men ended their three-game winless run when they saw off RB Leipzig 3-0 on September 17 courtesy of a first-half brace from Jonas Hofmann and Ramy Bensebaini's 53rd-minute strike.
While Die Fohlen are yet to pick up a win on the road this season, they now return home, where they are on a run of three wins from their last four games this season — with a 1-0 loss to Mainz on September 4 being the exception.
Borussia Monchengladbach have now picked up three wins, three draws and lost two of their opening eight games to collect 12 points and sit ninth in the Bundesliga standings, two points and one place off Sunday's visitors.
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Koln, on the other hand, were condemned to their first defeat of the Europa Conference League campaign as they were beaten 1-0 by Partizan Belgrade when the sides squared off on Thursday.
Despite being under the cosh and seeing just under 30% of the ball possession, 22-year-old defender Svetozar Markovic netted the only goal of the game in the ninth minute to hand the Serbian outfit all three points.
Prior to that, Koln played out a 1-1 draw with OGC Nice at the Allianz Riviera in their Group D opener on September 8 before claiming a 4-2 victory over Czech Republic outfit Slovacko one week later.
Steffen Baumgart's men now turned their sights to the Bundesliga, where they claimed an impressive 3-2 victory over Borussia Dortmund last Saturday to end their two-game winless run.
Koln head into the weekend unbeaten in seven of their eight league games this season, claiming three wins and four draws — with a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Union Berlin on September 11 being the exception.
Die GeiBbocke will fancy their chances of picking up successive league wins for the first time this season on Sunday as they go up against a Borussia Monchengladbach side who have lost each of the last three meetings between the teams since a 3-1 victory in October 2020.
Team News
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Borussia Monchengladbach will be without Ko Itakura and Florian Neuhaus, who are both recuperating from knee injuries.
They are joined on the club's injury table by Austrian midfielder Hannes Wolf, who missed the trip to Werder Bremen last time out after coming off with a game-ending injury against Leipzig on September 17.
Yvandro Borges Sanches returned injured from September's international duty with Luxembourg and the youngster will continue his spell on the sidelines, while Torben Musel has been ruled out with a groin problem.
Like the hosts, Koln will be without several key players down the spine of the team as the likes of goalkeeper Timo Horn, defender Julian Chabot and midfielder Mathias Olesen are all recuperating from injuries.
The German duo of Tim Lemperle and Jan Thielmann will also play no part in this weekend's encounter as they also continue their spells on the sidelines, while 31-year-old forward Sebastian Andersson is out with a knee injury.
Borussia Monchengladbach possible starting lineup:
Sommer; Scally, Friedrich, Elvedi, Bensebaini; Kone, Weigl, Kramer; Hofmann, Thuram, Stindl
FC Koln possible starting lineup:
Schwabe; Schmitz, Kilian, Hubers; Hector; Skhiri, Ljubicic; Maina, Duda, Kainz; Tigges
We say: Borussia Monchengladbach 2-1 FC Koln
Looking at recent results between the sides, Koln head into the weekend as slight favourites to come away with the desired results. However, Monchengladbach have been near impenetrable on their home turf this season and we predict that they will squeeze out a narrow victory to end their losing streak against Baumgart's men.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Joshua Ojele
