Borussia Monchengladbach vs St. Pauli Preview: Team News & Prediction
by Alex Sarwar ·
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St. Pauli can move up a whopping four places with a win over Borussia Monchengladbach and even a draw would be enough to get them out of the bottom three.
Kick-off date/time:
How to watch on TV: UK – BBC iPlayer / US – ESPN
How to watch online: UK – BBC Sport website & BBC iPlayer / US – ESPN+
Borussia Monchengladbach preview: Road woes
Borussia Monchengladbach will probably be relieved to be playing at home following their recent struggles away. They’ve lost three of their last four Bundesliga fixtures with all three of those coming away from Borussia-Park. But their most recent home match saw them overcome Union Berlin by a goal to nil.
Whilst Gladbach were always unlikely to get anything away at league leaders Bayern Munich last time out, especially after going two goals down before half-time, they do at least deserve credit for an improve second-half performance, especially despite being reduced to ten men following the sending off of Rocco Reitz.
St. Pauli preview: Upturn continues
St. Pauli are fighting for their lives and results are starting to turn their way in the battle for Bundesliga survival. After consecutive victories against Werder Bremen and Hoffenheim respectively, Alexander Blessin’s side picked up a more than credible 1-1 draw at home to Eintracht Frankfurt last time out.
The visitors have conceded just once over the course of those last three games and come into this one having recorded back-to-back clean sheets against opponents notorious for their attacking quality. That’s a testament to St. Pauli’s much improved backline.
Borussia Monchengladbach team news: No Reitz in midfield
Suspension rules out Reitz for Borussia Monchengladbach and he joins the likes of Robin Hack and Tim Kleindienst on the sidelines, both of whom are injured along with Nathan Ngoumou.
Predicted XI: (3-4-3): Nicolas; Sander, Elvedi, Diks; Scally, Neuhaus, Stoger, Ullrich; Honorat, Tabakovic, Mohya
Unavailable: Hack (Injured), Kleindienst (Injured), Ngoumou (Injured), Reitz (Suspended)
Questionable: Takai (Injured)
St. Pauli team news: Wait and see on Sands
St. Pauli’s James Sands is doubtful for the trip to Gladbach with an ankle injury and Mathias Rasmussen could also miss out due to a muscle problem.
Predicted XI: (3-4-3): Vasilj; Wahl, Smith, Ando; Pyrka, Metcalfe, Irvine, Ritzka; Fujita, Kaars, Pereira Lage
Unavailable: Jones (Injured), Mets (Injured), Saliakis (Injured)
Questionable: Rasmussen (Injured), Sands (Injured)
Borussia Monchengladbach vs St. Pauli prediction
St. Pauli travel to Gladbach with genuine confidence and for good reason. They are playing good football, look rock solid defensively, are fighting for every ball and won’t stop running until the final whistle. These are the sort of traits that see you survive a relegation fight and fans have every reason to believe their side can get something away at Borussia Monchengladbach.
Granted, all of the hosts’ recent defeats have come on the road, but it’s easy to see St. Pauli coming in and frustrating them. Gladbach haven’t really convinced going forward over the past few weeks and St. Pauli are more than capable of grabbing a goal, even if it’s against the run of play. Therefore, a smart play would using the double chance market to back the visitors gaining at least a point, if not all three.
Borussia Monchengladbach vs St. Pauli tip: Double chance - draw/St. Pauli
