Another thorough analysis of the duel that will take place on the first day of the weekend is ready as we check out the game scheduled at the Red Bull Arena. The RB Leipzig has witnessed the historic week as they appeared for the first time in the UEFA Champions League just eight years after the foundation of the club in 2009. They recorded a 1:1 home draw against French Champion AS Monaco and first and only goal scorer for the team in this competition was one of their best players Emil Forsberg.
On the other side Borussia Monchengladbach has entered a two-game winless stride after season opening win against FC Koln at home and if they record a loss here it could be the sign that team has entered a low-form period. Not to jump the conclusions, let’s take a closer look and select some valuable betting picks in order to get your piggy bank a bit fatter.
RB Leipzig vs. Borussia Monchengladbach
Three-Way: 1: RB Leipzig -133; X: +322 Draw; Borussia Monchengladbach +450
Spread -1: RB Leipzig +125; Borussia Monchengladbach -130
Total +2.5: Over -133; Under +127
RB LEIPZIG
The biggest surprise of the last season German Bundesliga is easily getting back to recognizable shape after the initial season opening loss at Gelsenkirchen. In the national championship, RB Leipzig recorded two straight wins in the last two rounds (4:1 at home over SC Freiburg and 2:0 on the road against Hamburger SV). They also debuted in the UEFA Champions League group stage competition on Wednesday with a 1:1 home draw against AS Monaco. Besides French team, they will be competing with Turkish side Besiktas and Portuguese team Porto in group G.
Victory over HSV last Saturday was a pure performance of domination that adorned the team’s playstyle last season. RB Leipzig outplayed the opponent in almost every statistical aspect. The ball was in the Red Bulls’ possession for 63% of the time and they recorded 23 total shots towards opponents’ goal oppose to 11 by the host. They also posted 14 corner kicks and held the imitative throughout the entire game.
Coach Hasenhuttl started the game with a 4-4-2 scheme with P. Gulacsi between the bars. Bernardo, W. Orban, D. Upmecano and M. Halstenberg operated on the defensive line while Bruma, D. Demme, N. Keita and M. Sabitzer had midfield assignments granted. Timo Werner and Jean-Kevin Augustin started at center-forward position. Besides Naby Keita who also got booked, Werner was the second goal scorer that secured the victory for the team. These two also posted most attempts towards Claudio Mathenia’s goal (Keita had six, Werner had three), while Wiktor Orban and Diego Demme dominated the passing segment with 90.2% and 87.3% of passes completed. It’s important to say that Emil Forsberg didn’t play in this matchup as he was resting for in that time upcoming UEFA Champions League showdown.
It seems like this two games a week scenario isn’t taking its toll on the RB Leipzig team yet because there are not many players injured at the moment. Fabio Coltorti (muscle) and Marvin Compper (flu) are only two guys who are questionable for Saturday while central midfielder Naby Keita (groin) is listed as day to day.
BORUSSIA MONCHENGLADBACH
Borussia Monchengladbach is one of the most famous and most successful German soccer teams but the biggest portion of those great accomplishments in ninety seventies. They won the UEFA Cup competition (predecessor to UEFA Europa League competition) twice (1975, 1979) and were finalists twice (1973, 1980). They even have one UEFA Champions Cup (predecessor to UEFA Champions League) finalist appearance in 1977 (3:1 loss against Liverpool at Stadio Olimpico in Rome) and they were the German national Champions five times (1970, 1971, 1975, 1976, 1977). The fans are waiting for another title for over 40 years and it looks like that anticipation will last a bit longer. They started this season with a 1:0 home win against FC Koln but they are winless since with 2:2 road draw at Augsburg in week 2 and 0:1 home loss by Eintracht Frankfurt last week. They are currently ranked at No. 10 spot in the league table with four total points earned. Now they are about to face the strongest opponent so far into the season and it will be a quite an accomplishment if they can manage to secure any kind of positive result.
The opening goal by Kevin-Prince Boateng last week against the Eagles caught the team off-guard and they just couldn’t regroup and hit back before the final whistle. 4-4-2 scheme maybe worked against an inferior opponent like FC Koln but more experienced squad like Eintracht managed to exploit all the weaknesses and snatch the full pray. The team had the initiative throughout the entire game but their attempts looked brittle with no real will and motivation to do what was needed. They had the ball in their possession for 65% of the time and posted the same amount of shots towards opponent’s goal (18) but it wasn’t enough.
Coach Dieter Hecking started with Y. Sommer at goalie position with N. Elvedi, M. Ginter, J. Westergaard and O. Wendt in front of him. T. Hazard, D. Zakaria, C. Kramer and P. Hermann operated in the middle of the field while Raffael and L. Stindl started the game at the striker position. Thorgan Hazard, Jannik Vestergaard and Julio Villalba who entered the game instead of Oskar Wendt seven minutes before the end of the regular time got booked while Hazard also presented the biggest threat to opponents’ goal with five total shots. Matthias Ginter and Lars Stindl dominated the passing segment with 87.3% and 85.4% of passes completed.
Laszlo Benes (broken foot) and Tobias Strobl (cruciate ligament) will be absent from the pitch for a longer period of time with timetables for return set at the beginning of the next year while Ibrahima Traore (thigh) should be ready in a few weeks. Vicenzo Grifo (knee) and Mamadou Doucoure (thigh) are listed as day to day while Josip Drmic (knee) is back in training.
RB Leipzig vs. Borussia Monchengladbach – Match Prediction
RB Leipzig had more success in the matchups that occurred last year as they managed to snatch a 2:1 road win at Borussia Park and a 1:1 draw at Red Bull Arena. When we look at the teams’ recent form, “The Bulls” hold the advantage in this segment too but we should be careful because they played one more game in the middle of the week and weariness might emerge as a problem.
Still, my money here would go on the home team win but I wouldn’t be surprised if Borussia scores at least one goal.
My pick: RB Leipzig to win (-133)
Additional Pick: Both teams score YES (-130)
