Borussia Dortmund will be looking to bounce back from their European disappointment in midweek when they welcome Borussia Monchengladbach to Signal Iduna Park on Sunday in the Borussen derby.
The hosts got themselves back in the Bundesliga title race last weekend before being shocked in the week, whilst the visitors finally returned to winning ways last week during their dreadful campaign so far.
Match preview
© Reuters
After seemingly seeing their title challenge with Bayern Munich ended on a couple of occasions due to inconsistency this season, Dortmund were unexpectedly allowed back in last weekend.
Bayern's shock defeat at VfL Bochum on Saturday opened the door for Dortmund to cut the gap at the top of the table down from nine points to six once more.
BVB delivered in style with a clinical display on a tough trip to top-four chasing Union Berlin a day later, with Marco Reus stepping up in the absence of Erling Braut Haaland to net twice in the first half, before Raphael Guerreiro wrapped up the points in the second 45.
It was far from a dominant performance from Marco Rose's side, but considering their humiliating 5-2 defeat at home to Bayer Leverkusen on the prior weekend, it was an excellent response from the title challengers.
However, as mentioned above, consistency has been the main issue for Dortmund this season, and they hit another setback when they hosted Rangers in the first leg of their round-of-32 Europa League tie on Thursday evening.
Defensively, Dortmund have continued to struggle for much of this season once more, and despite picking up an impressive clean sheet at Union a few days earlier, the Scottish champions capitalised on their opponent's wobbly defence to humiliate their German hosts in a 4-2 victory.
Doubts over Rose's position as manager were raised during a crisis meeting held immediately after the defeat, so he will be looking to silence the critics when he welcomes his former employers to Signal Iduna Park on Sunday, whilst looking to keep the pressure on Bayern in the process.
© Reuters
Meanwhile, Monchengladbach head to their Borussia counterparts on Sunday on the back of a first win in five matches across all competitions.
Kouadio Kone, Jonas Hofmann and Ramy Bensebaini netted in the 3-2 win over relegation-threatened Augsburg at Borussia-Park last Saturday, which pulled Gladbach away from immediate danger at the wrong end of the table themselves.
Had Die Fohlen fallen to yet another defeat, they would have been on the verge of dropping into the relegation places, and the reality of a potentially catastrophic drop out of the top flight for a side supposed to challenge for the European places would have become all the more alarming.
Instead, Gladbach head into matchday 23 in 13th spot, with a four-point gap now being opened up between themselves and last weekend's opponents in the relegation playoff place.
Despite a concerning defensive performance from Adi Hutter's side once more last weekend, Gladbach impressed in an attacking sense, and were perhaps unfortunate not to add further goals to their tally of three following a host of missed opportunities.
Sunday's visitors will be confident in creating chances against a shaky Dortmund back line this weekend, as they look to replicate their 1-0 victory in the reverse fixture back in September, and record back-to-back league victories for the first time since they did so in the match that followed that win over Dortmund earlier in the campaign.
- L
- W
- W
- W
- L
- W
- W
- L
- W
- L
- W
- L
- D
- W
- L
- L
- D
- W
- W
- L
- L
- L
- D
- W
Team News
© Reuters
Sunday's derby could well see the return of Haaland for Dortmund, with the Norwegian being sidelined for the last three matches due to a groin injury.
Rose could well start his talisman on the bench though, in the hope of not requiring his services and ensuring he is fully recovered ahead of the remaining weeks in the title race.
Manuel Akanji picked up a calf injury in the midweek defeat, and with Thomas Meunier continuing to struggle with a muscular problem, Emre Can could fill in at right full-back after sitting out against Rangers due to a European suspension.
Mateu Morey and Marcel Schmelzer are definite absentees, whilst Marius Wolf continues to struggle with a knock to his knee, and remains doubtful as a result.
As for the visitors, Hutter is likely to name an unchanged starting 11 from the one that came out victorious over Augsburg last weekend.
That means Breel Embolo should lead the line once more, with Alassane Plea and Hofmann supporting in attack behind him.
Captain Lars Stindl is the only confirmed absentee due to his knee injury, whilst Mamadou Doucoure remains a doubt due to a muscle problem.
Borussia Dortmund possible starting lineup:
Kobel; Can, Hummels, Zagadou, Guerreiro; Brandt, Dahoud, Bellingham; Reus, Malen, Hazard
Borussia Monchengladbach possible starting lineup:
Sommer; Ginter, Friedrich, Elvedi; Lainer, Kone, Neuhaus, Bensebaini; Hofmann, Plea; Embolo
We say: Borussia Dortmund 3-2 Borussia Monchengladbach
With both sides struggling defensively this campaign, we are expecting an open and attacking affair with plenty of goals on Sunday, despite the drab 1-0 scoreline between the sides back in September.
Gladbach will fancy their chances at hitting their hosts on the break and netting a couple of goals, but we are predicting for Haaland to return with a heroic performance from the bench to lead his side to a vital three points in the title race.
Top tip
Matthew Tranter
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Borussia Dortmund win with a probability of 61.18%. A draw had a probability of 19.5% and a win for Borussia Monchengladbach had a probability of 19.3%.
The most likely scoreline for a Borussia Dortmund win was 2-1 with a probability of 9.62%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (7.99%) and 3-1 (7.26%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (8.51%), while for a Borussia Monchengladbach win it was 1-2 (5.12%). The actual scoreline of 6-0 was predicted with a 0.6% likelihood. Our team at Sports Mole and our data analysis both correctly predicted that Borussia Dortmund would win this match.
