Gladbach vs Borussia Dortmund Preview: Classic Encounter, Key Battle, Team News & More
Borussia Dortmund will be looking to secure an eighth straight Bundesliga game without defeat this Sunday when Peter Stöger's side travel to Mönchengladbach.
Dortmund secured an important 3-2 victory in the first-leg of their Europa League tie against Atalanta in mid-week and will be travelling to Borussia-Park in contrasting form to their hosts this Sunday.
Here's everything you need to know about this mouthwatering fixture on matchday 23:
Classic Encounter
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Borussia Dortmund have secured all three points in their last five games against Mönchengladbach. The last time Dortmund failed to win on the road to Die Fohlen, it took Swedish left-back Oscar Wendt just 28 seconds to open the scoring.
After an outstanding passing move between Patrick Herrmann and Raffael, Fabian Johnson saw his effort saved by the outstretched leg of Roman Weidenfeller. However, the ball bounced kindly for Wendt and the defender made no mistake from the edge of the box.
Key Battle
Raffael was able to add a second goal before the half-time break, with Havard Nordtveit adding a third midway through the second-half.
Ilkay Gündogan was able to pull one back for Borussia Dortmund, however, Lucien Favre's side held on for all three points and would go on to finish third in the league table - 20 points ahead of Die Schwarzgelben.
Team News
Matthias Ginter vs Michy Batshuayi
Chelsea loanee Michy Batshuayi has taken the Bundesliga - and Europa League for that matter - by storm since joining Borussia Dortmund on deadline day in January.
The Belgian international has already been involved in six goals in his first three games under Peter Stöger and has gone a long way to replacing Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
Batshuayi will have his toughest test yet in a Dortmund shirt this weekend as he prepares to go head to head with Matthias Ginter - a World Cup-winning centre-back who left North Rhine-Westphalia in the summer.
The 24-year-old has been in outstanding form for 'Gladbach this season, showing his qualities in attack and defence on a number of occasions in his maiden season for the Foals.
Although the return of Marco Reus has been a boost for Borussia Dortmund, injuries to Andriy Yarmolenko, Jadon Sancho, Maximilian Philipp and Shinji Kagawa leave Stöger short of options in attack.
Sebastian Rode is still missing from the midfield, while the absence of Erik Durm and Raphaël Guerreiro will weaken the left side of Dortmund's defence.
Potential Borussia Mönchengladbach Starting Lineup: Sippel, Jantschke, Vestergaard, Ginter, Elvedi, Kramer, Zakaria, Hazard, Grifo, Stindl, Raffael.
Mamadou Doucouré, Oscar Wendt and Tobias Strobl will be missing for Borussia Mönchengladbach this Sunday, with Fabian Johnson and Ibrahima Traoré also expected to be watching from the stands.
Potential Borussia Dortmund Starting Lineup:Bürki, Piszczek, Toprak, Sokratis, Toljan, Weigl, Dahoud, Götze, Schürrle, Reus, Batshuayi.
Prediction
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All signs are pointing to a Borussia Dortmund win this weekend, with 'Gladbach's inability to find the back of the net something that with play into the visitors' hands.
There is still a lot of work that needs to be done with Dortmund's defensive organisation if they ever want to challenge Bayern Munich at the top of the table in the future.
However, Dortmund's short-term goals - most notably qualifying for the Champions League - should move one step closer at Borussia-Park on Sunday.
Prediction: Borussia Mönchengladbach 1-3 Borussia Dortmund
