Borussia Monchengladbach and Manchester City will both be looking to recover from defeats in their opening Champions League fixtures when they meet in Germany on Wednesday evening.
The Bundesliga outfit were thumped by Sevilla in their first group stage match, while the Citizens suffered a late defeat at the hands of Juventus.
Borussia Monchengladbach
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Monchengladbach are playing in the Champions League for the first time in their history this season, after an impressive Bundesliga campaign where they secured an unlikely third-place finish.
However, they were given a tough start in their group stage opener, as they travelled to Spain to face Europa League holders Sevilla. They managed to hold their opponents until half time, but just moments after the break Kevin Gameiro fired in a penalty to give his side the lead.
Although Gameiro missed another spot kick moments later, Ever Banega and Yevhen Konoplyanka both scored to secure a 3-0 win for Unai Emery's side to make it a night to forget for the Germans.
They had gone into that match after losing their opening four Bundesliga fixtures, and after another defeat to FC Koln just days later, Lucien Favre resigned from his position as manager.
Andre Schubert was then tasked with the job of reviving the club's fortunes and he started his reign by guiding them to a 4-2 victory over Augsburg, with all of their goals coming inside the opening 21 minutes.
A second successive victory for the club followed at the weekend, as they earned a 3-1 win at Stuttgart to move out of the Bundesliga's bottom three.
Recent form: WLLLWW
Manchester City
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In contrast to Monchengladbach's poor start to the season, Manchester City began the campaign in impressive form and won their opening five Premier League matches to set the early pace.
Following a last-gasp victory over Crystal Palace, they took on Juventus in their first group match, and they looked headed for a crucial win when Giorgio Chiellini put the ball into his own net under pressure from Vincent Kompany.
However, Mario Mandzukic levelled for the Italian champions, before Alvaro Morata struck a late winner to condemn them to a damaging defeat.
They were then beaten 2-1 by West Ham United on their return to league action and they suffered their second straight defeat in the top flight at the weekend, as Tottenham Hotspur came from behind to earn a 4-1 win at White Hart Lane.
Manuel Pellegrini's side have since lost their place at the top of the league to rivals Manchester United and they have been leaking goals without Kompany at the heart of the defence.
The one positive result for the club in the past two weeks has been a 4-1 victory in the third round of the League Cup against Sunderland, while summer signing Kevin De Bruyne will return to Germany having scored three goals in his last three games.
Recent form: WWLLWL
Team News
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Monchengladbach are not expected to make any changes to their starting lineup after beating Stuttgart at the weekend.
However, Martin Stranzl is set to miss out through injury, while doubts remain over the fitness of Tony Jantschke.
Meanwhile, Vincent Kompany, Wilfried Bony, Fabian Delph, Eliaquim Mangala and Gael Clichy could all miss out again for City.
David Silva has not played since the defeat to Juventus, but he is expected to return, while Yaya Toure should also play after limping off against Spurs.
Joe Hart should also return in goal after missing out at the weekend due to a minor back strain, with Willy Caballero dropping to the bench.
Borussia Monchengladbach possible starting lineup:
Sommer, Korb, Nordtveit, Christensen, Wendt, Herrmann, Dahoud, Xhaka, Johnson, Stindl, Raffael
Manchester City possible starting lineup:
Hart, Sagna, Otamendi, Demichelis, Kolarov, Fernandinho, Toure, Silva, De Bruyne, Sterling, Aguero
Head To Head
These teams played each other in the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup in 1979, with Monchengladbach advancing to the last four courtesy of a 4-2 aggregate win.
The German side would go on to win the tournament by beating Red Star Belgrade 2-1 in the final. It was their second victory in the competition, and it came during a period where they reached five European finals in eight seasons.
We say: Borussia Monchengladbach 0-2 Manchester City
City are in desperate need of a victory to restore their confidence after suffering a crushing defeat at White Hart Lane. They have struggled at the back in recent weeks and have been missing a number of key players. However, their opponents have also been poor defensively, and we think that City's forward players will create enough chances to help get them back to winning ways.
Alex Meyers
