The busy schedule in the German Bundesliga comes to spotlight during this midweek as Round 5 matches are set to be played on Tuesday and Wednesday. The opening matchup will take place at the Borussia Park where The Foals will host the guests from Stuttgart. Monchengladbach is coming off from a 2:2 draw at RB Leipzig, a result that can be considered as a success, while the VfB Stuttgart comes from a second consecutive 1:0 home win, this time over Wolfsburg. These two squads are ranked at No.9 and No. 10 spot in the league table and a possible winner could enter the top part of the table rankings that provides the battle for one of the European competitions’ spots.
Teams are obviously waking up as 28 goals were recorded in nine duels of Round 4 last weekend (3.1 goals in average) making the last round most efficient so far. Naming under 2.5 goals as “business as usual” in Germany this season seems to be losing its foundation as only three of nine duels in week 4 had under 2.5 goals in total. Nevertheless, we have to be careful because this high-scoring trend could just as easily be a fluke. Squads are playing their second match in four days (some of them are playing their third match in last week) and this could certainly have the effect on the players’ efficiency. If we put the things this way, round 5 has every indication of being a low-scoring round with under 2.5 goals scored in average.
Borussia Monchengladbach vs. VfB Stuttgart
Three-Way: 1: Borussia Monchengladbach -130; X: +320 Draw; 2: VfB Stuttgart +450
Spread -1: Borussia Monchengladbach +125; VfB Stuttgart -127
Total +3: Over +112; Under -118
BORUSSIA MONCHENGLADBACH
The Borussia Monchengladbach team obviously took serious the scare that came in the round 3 when they got defeated by Eintracht Frankfurt team at home thus recording a very good result on the road last Saturday against the last season runners-up, RB Leipzig. Match ended with two goals in each teams’ net on an afternoon that provided both great quality soccer and suspension, and finally the outcome that we predicted. Securing one point on a hot visit at Red Bull Arena provided the squad with a much-needed confidence boost in front of the home duel against the newcomer in the league, VfB Stuttgart. Three points for The Foals will be an imperative on Tuesday in order to break the three-game winless streak. As I’ve mentioned above, the team ranks at No. 10 spot in the league table with five points after four matchups (1-2-1 record) and 5-5 goal difference.
Against the Bulls, Dietmar Hecking started in a conservative 4-4-2 scheme with N. Elvedi, M. Ginter, J. Vestergaard and O. Wendt operating as a defensive line in front of goalie Y. Sommer, while J. Hoffman, Ch. Kramer, D. Zakaria and T. Hazard were positioned in front of them as midfielders. L. Stindl and Raffael started the game at centre-forward positions. RB Leipzig came in advance twice and Monchengladbach managed to equalize twice. Thorgun Hazard neutralized the 1:0 lead set by Timo Werner with a penalty kick goal in 25th minute of the match while Lars Stindl set the final result with a second equalizer in the 61st minute of the game after Diego Demme led his team to a 2:1 advantage 13 minutes after the break. Statistically, teams were also pretty much equal with RB Leipzig recording 51% ball possession, and both teams recording 13 shots towards the opponents’ goalie each. Individually, Brazilian native striker Raffael presented the biggest threat for Leipzig’s Gulasci with three shots towards the goal while Denis Zakaria and Matthias Ginter dominated the passing segment with 94.1% and 89.7% of passes completed.
Laszlo Benes (broken foot) and Tobias Strobl (cruciate ligament) will be absent for a longer period of time as their returns are set for mid-December and early February next year. Ibrahima Traore (thigh) should be back in a few weeks while Jonas Hoffman’s (muscle) and Kwame Yeboah’s (muscle) status is unknown. Vicenzo Grifo (knee) and Mamadou Doucoure (thigh) are listed as day to day while Josip Drmic (knee) is back in training.
VFB STUTTGART
The VfB Stuttgart team is playing solid for now with two wins and two losses in the first four matchups of the season. Both victories came at home (against Wolfsburg and Mainz) and both defeats came on the road (against Schalke 04 and Hertha). They are currently set at the No. 9 spot in the league table with 3-5 goal difference. If they continue with the trend of home wins and road losses they will definitely have no worries of survival and they will probably be close to securing the European competitions berth but we all know that this would be almost an impossible task. The team needs to start winning points on the road because a perfect home-field run will end sometime.
In a minimal 1:0 win over the Wolves last weekend, Stuttgart’s coach Hannes Wolf started the game with a 3-4-2-1 scheme with three centre-backs (M. Kaminski, B. Pavard, and T. Baumgartl) in front of the goalkeeper Zieler. D. Aogo and A. Beck operated down the sidelines with both offensive and defensive assignments while S. Ascacibar, C. Gentner, A. Donis and D. Akolo were in charge of the middle of the field. S. Terrode was set to play as the only true striker in the starting eleven. This kind of tactics proved to be a successful one as the team managed to safe keep the 1:0 lead provided by Chadrac Akolo three minutes before the break. Stuttgart team had the ball in its possession less time (46%) but they recorded more shots towards the opponent’s goal (12 opposed to 9 by the Wolves). The lone scorer Akolo presented also the biggest threat for Wolfsburg’s goalie Casteels with four total shots recorded while Benjamin Pavard and Timo Baumgartl led the passing game with 93.9% and 85.2% of passes completed.
Emiliano Insua (knee) is set to be back in early November while Carlos Mane (knee) should be ready in early October. Christian Gentner’s (head) and Matthias Zimmermann’s (cruciate ligament) status is unknown while Holger Badstuber (groin), Daniel Ginczek (knee) and Anto Grgic (ankle) are listed as day to day.
Borussia Monchengladbach vs. VfB Stuttgart – Match Prediction
The last two matchups between these two squads occurred two years ago in the 2015/16 season when VfB Stuttgart team got relegated from the top tier German soccer competition. Monchengladbach emerged victorious in both duels (3:1 win on the road, 4:0 win at home).
In my opinion, Monchengladbach is a bit stronger team at the moment although they do have fewer points in the league table. Regardless, I would go with a home team win here as a first pick. The additional pick would be under 3 goals in total.
My pick: Borussia Monchengladbach (-130)
Additional Pick: Under 3 goals (-118)
