Gladbach have just one point from their last three Bundesliga encounters, whilst free scoring Dortmund have found the net fifteen times in their five Bundesliga matches since the turn of the year. The black and yellows have won four of those matches, with their only slip up at home to Hamburg.
Last week Marco Reus was the hat-trick hero for Dortmund as they clinically dismantled Eintracht Frankfurt, whilst Gladbach went down 1-0 to Rafael van der Vaart’s sublime strike in Hamburg.
The Foals have also had to contend with their Europa League travels this week. They lost 2-0 to Lazio in Rome (5-3 on aggregate) plunging out of Europe for this season. Tiresome and fatigue could well play its part in the latter stages of the match. This could be dangerous against the high tempo, high pressing game Dortmund love to play at.
The two sides are both without their strongest squads going into the game due to suspensions. Patrick Hermann misses out for Gladbach whilst Dortmund lack striking pair Robert Lewandowski and Julian Schieber.
Jürgen Klopp could then employ the highly debated ‘false 9’ in this match, with either Marco Reus or Mario Götze taking up the position.
Dortmund thrashed Gladbach in the previous encounter this season 5-0. Reus scored that day against his former team, but emotions will surely be higher this time as he returns to his former employer’s home.
It is a game that on paper oozes goals. The lethal form of Dortmund, combined with Gladbach being off colour recently, certainly indicates a high scoring match. The danger for the home supporters is Dortmund replicating that 5-0 score line. Gladbach will have belief though as they are undefeated in 27 of their last 30 home matches in the Bundesliga.
