Borussia Monchengladbach vs Bayer Leverkusen
Borussia Park, Monchengladbach
Saturday, 23-05-2020 @4pm
The Bundesliga headline fixture of match-day 27 will without a doubt be at the Borussia Park as Gladbach hosts in-form Leverkusen.
It is a straight shoot-out for Champions League football with the hosts in 3rd, two points ahead of the visitors who sit fifth.
Either resumed their campaigns with comfortable away victories against Eintracht Frankfurt and Werder Bremen, defeating them 1-3 and 1-4, respectively. Kai Havertz grabbed the headlines for Leverkusen with a brace of headers, while Ramy Bensenbaini grabbed a goal and an assist each for Gladbach.
Gladbach sat atop the Bundesliga for seven matchdays in the first half of the season, but have slowly fallen off the ladder as the weeks have gone by.
However, they were able to recover a bit after RB Leipzig dropped points against Freiburg in a 1-1 draw last week. Gladbach will be able to go just three points shy of Bayern if they beat Leverkusen outfit – at least until the leaders play Frankfurt three hours later.
Both of these sides, along with VfL Wolfsburg, have conceded an equal number of goals – 31 – the third-lowest in the division, behind Bayern and Leipzig with 26 and 27, respectively. Despite that, Gladbach have three clean sheets fewer than Die Werkself, who have eight, the joint second-highest along with Leipzig and Borussia Dortmund.
The previous fixture between the sides ended in a 2-1 win for Gladbach, while Leon Bailey picked up a red card in the 97th minute of the game. The show, however, was run by none other than Marcus Thuram, who set up the opener for Oscar Wendt and then scored himself in the 41st minute.
Gladbach will again be without the services of both Fabian Johnson and Denis Zakaria from injury, but the team did not pick up any fresh concerns against Frankfurt last time out. Patrick Herrmann came off the bench against Frankfurt and is in contention to start, although it would not be a surprise to see Rose send the same starting XI onto the field. Indeed, two of the front three – Alassane Plea and Marcus Thuram – were on the scoresheet, while Breel Embolo should keep his spot as the central striker despite Rose having plenty of other options.
As for Leverkusen, Havertz, who continues to be linked with the likes of Manchester United, Liverpool and Barcelona, scored twice from the centre-forward spot against Werder Bremen and could well feature in that area of the field once again. Leon Bailey and Karim Bellarabi are obvious options to come into the away side’s starting XI, but Moussa Diaby – thought to be attracting the attention of Arsenal – is likely to keep his position. Lars Bender and Kevin Volland, meanwhile, remain on the treatment table for Bosz’s team.
The other Bundesliga games this weekend
Saturday, 16-05-2020
-Wolfsburg vs Dortmund @4:30pm
-Freiburg vs Bremen @4:30pm
-Paderbon vs Hoffenheim @4:30pm
-Bayern vs Frankfurt @7:30pm
Sunday, 24-05-2020
-Schalke vs Augsburg @2:30pm
-Mainz vs Leipzig @4:30pm
-Koln vs Dusseldorf @7pm
Friday, 22-05-2020 result
-Hertha Berlin 4-0 Union Berlin