Saturday's Bundesliga action concludes with a huge relegation six-pointer between Borussia Monchengladbach and Hertha Berlin at Borussia-Park.
Both sides fell to defeats once more last weekend, with two big clubs in German football enduring dreadful campaigns so far to leave them in danger of a catastrophic drop out of the top flight.
Match preview
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For the first 35 minutes of Gladbach's huge game at fellow strugglers Stuttgart last weekend, everything seemed to be going to plan for Adi Hutter and his team, with Alassane Plea continuing his fine recent form with a goal and an assist to haul his side into a 2-0 lead.
However, the shaky defence of Die Fohlen could not handle a barrage of pressure from their hosts, who entered their clash with Gladbach having not won in their previous nine games, and occupied 17th place as a result.
The hosts were excellent though, and by the 83rd minute, they had capitalised on Gladbach's collapse to seal a dramatic 3-2 victory, to pull them to within five points of Hutter's men ahead of matchday 26 this weekend.
Back at the beginning of the year, Die Fohlen put their awful start to the season behind them to record a shock 2-1 win at league leaders Bayern Munich, which looked set to put them on track to finish the campaign impressively and finally climb the Bundesliga table.
However, since that victory, Hutter's men have won just once in their eight outings across all competitions, losing five times, which leaves them in 13th place at the time of writing.
A worryingly narrow gap to the relegation places remains, and with their manager's future hanging in the balance, Saturday's huge relegation six-pointer for a second successive week could well go a long way to defining their destiny come May.
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Meanwhile, Saturday's visitors Hertha would jump at the chance to be in Gladbach's predicament as things stand.
The Old Lady suffered a fourth consecutive defeat last weekend, and the seventh from their opening nine games of 2022, to leave the club's hierarchy considering a managerial change for a second time this season.
Current boss Tayfun Korkut arrived in December to replace the departed Pal Dardai, and after picking up seven points from his opening four games in charge, which included an excellent 3-2 triumph over second-placed Borussia Dortmund, the change looked to be a rewarding one at the time.
However, with the dreadful nine-game winless run following that initial bright start to his tenure, Korkut finds himself under pressure just like his counterpart at the weekend.
Last weekend's 4-1 hammering at home to Eintracht Frankfurt had very few, if any, positives for the Berlin side to take from it, and it is a result that saw Hertha drop into the relegation playoff spot of 16th in the table.
As mentioned above, Stuttgart's huge win last weekend had massive implications at the bottom of the Bundesliga table, and it was one that leaves Saturday's visitors just one point above the automatic drop zone.
Therefore, as much as the clash at Borussia-Park has significant importance for the hosts, it could well remain just as vital to Korkut's, and Hertha's, immediate future in the coming weeks.
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Team News
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With Ramy Bensebaini suspended on Saturday, and Stefan Lainer and Marvin Friedrich missing last weekend's defeat due to the flu, Hutter could have some decisions to make regarding his struggling defence for this huge battle.
However, the latter duo could well return at the weekend to provide a much-needed boost, although the injury to Jonas Hofmann in training this week comes as a huge blow.
This season's top goalscorer is sidelined for several weeks due to the muscle injury that he sustained, which could present the opportunity for Breel Embolo to return to the starting 11 alongside Plea and Marcus Thuram.
Captain Lars Stindl remains out until the end of March, as does midfielder Mamadou Doucoure.
As for the visitors, they will welcome back first-choice goalkeeper Alexander Schwolow following a two-game absence due to COVID-19.
Following desperate situations in terms of goalkeeping and defensive options in recent weeks, Korkut has a near fully-fit squad to choose from at the weekend.
However, captain and central defender Dedryck Boyata, as well as the influential Stevan Jovetic, have trained individually this week due to minor muscle problems, so the absence of the duo would come as a huge blow to Hertha were they to miss out.
Spare goalkeeper Rune Jarstein, and young forward Kelian Nsona, are the only two confirmed absentees at this point.
Borussia Monchengladbach possible starting lineup:
Sommer; Friedrich, Ginter, Elvedi; Scally, Neuhaus, Kramer, Netz; Plea, Thuram; Embolo
Hertha Berlin possible starting lineup:
Schwolow; Pekarik, Stark, Kempf, Mittelstadt; Serdar, Tousart, Darida; Richter, Selke, Maolida
We say: Borussia Monchengladbach 3-1 Hertha Berlin
With two of the division's three worst defences going head to head at Borussia-Park, goals are surely to be expected, but these huge relegation battles can go one of two ways when predicting goal fests.
Gladbach's front line, in particular Plea, has begun to find its rhythm in recent weeks, so we are predicting for the hosts to come out on top courtesy of their ability to outscore their opponent rather than the potential of putting in an excellent complete performance.
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 Monchengladbach win with a probability of 61.55%. A draw had a probability of 20.6% and a win for Hertha Berlin had a probability of 17.87%.
The most likely scoreline for a Borussia Monchengladbach win was 2-1 with a probability of 9.94%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (9.73%) and 1-0 (9.4%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (9.6%), while for a Hertha Berlin win it was 1-2 (4.91%). The actual scoreline of 2-0 was predicted with a 9.7% likelihood. Our team at Sports Mole and our data analysis both correctly predicted that Borussia Monchengladbach would win this match.
