RB Leipzig vs Borussia Mönchengladbach

Red Bull Arena plays host to a bottom-half Bundesliga encounter between RB Leipzig and Borussia Mönchengladbach.

Though a 2-1 home win over Manchester City in the Champions League midweek came to no avail, it should set up new boss Domenico Tedesco nicely for his managerial debut at Leipzig. Tedesco’s first task will be to bring Leipzig’s three-game losing streak in the Bundesliga – an indignity they’ve suffered for the first time since joining the top-flight in 2016/17. Having won just 35.71% of their Bundesliga matches this season (W5, D3, L6), ‘Die Roten Bullen’ face the risk of falling out of the top-four pace as they sit seven points adrift of fourth-placed Freiburg. Gladbach’s arrival at the Red Bull Arena might well come in handy, with Leipzig going unbeaten in all five top-flight H2Hs on home turf (W2, D3) while scoring 2+ goals in each of the last four in a row.

As for Borussia Mönchengladbach, a brace of 4+ margin defeats at the hands of Cologne and Freiburg have deepened the crisis in Adi Hutter’s camp. With the pressure ramping up on the former Eintracht Frankfurt manager, Gladbach will be seeking their second win in eighth Bundesliga travel this season (W1, D1, L5). Alarmingly, ‘Die Fohlen’ have netted a miserable average of 0.85 goas per Bundesliga away game this season while conceding 2.0 goals per match in return. Set-piece plays have not been Gladbach’s strong suit this term, as they’ve netted a league-low two goals from such situations so far. A lack of bounce-back ability has seen Mönchengladbach recover a league-low one point from losing positions this season (D1, L6), highlighting the importance of scoring first.