Bayer Leverkusen and Borussia Monchengladbach both sacked their original managers early in the season, so this fixture will show which side can adapt better to the unexpected changes.
Life under Kasper Hjulmand began with a bang, as Bayer Leverkusen achieved their first Bundesliga win of the season over Eintracht Frankfurt, despite completing the match with nine men. But the trip to Copenhagen in the Champions League once again displayed their defensive problems, although Die Werkself managed to come from behind to a final 2-2. The goal now is to improve the consistency of the team and Borussia Monchengladbach is a suitable target for a new home win.
The Foals will be led by Eugen Polanski as an interim manager after Ferardo Seoane was sacked mid-week after the team’s worst Bundesliga start in a decade. Borussia Monchengladbach are winless after three rounds and one of two teams to yet score a goal in the new campaign. In total, the Foals have not won a league game in 10 consecutive games, so any positive result will be an improvement.
How the bookies view it: The Foals to remain winless
According to bookmakers, this fixture will be all about Bayer Leverkusen. Bookies priced their win at just 11/20, while Borussia Monchengladbach are available at 7/2. Simultaneously, the draw has been priced at 4/1.
Recent head-to-head: All about Leverkusen
It’s fair to say that the Foals haven’t had a fun day out at Bayer Leverkusen in years. In fact, Monchengladbach’s last win against this rival dates back to late 2019. Since then, Die Werkself have won nine of the last 11 H2Hs. Last season, we saw a couple of tight clashes, although Bayer won both times while scoring three goals in each game.
Players to watch: This is Schick's world
Since Bayer Leverkusen sold a bunch of players from their championship squad, there really isn’t anyone to pick from the team now other than Patrik Schick. He had a mediocre performance mid-week against Copenhagen, and we will not rely on him again in the Champions League, but he is a different animal in the domestic league. Last season, he scored 21 goals in the Bundesliga. This season, he already has three in three rounds. He also scored the third goal for Leverkusen in the same fixture last season.
Probable line-ups
Bayer Leverkusen: Flekken, Quansah, Tapsoba, Bade, Palacios, Vazquez, Grimaldo, Garcia, Tillman, Tella, Schick
Borussia Monchengladbach: Nicolas, Ullrich, Chiarodia, Elvedi, Diks, Sander, Honorat, Reitz, Reyna, Machino, Hack
Anything else catch the eye?
One way or another, we should see a good number of goals in this match. For instance, if Leverkusen’s defensive struggles extend to this match, Gladbach will have enough chances to score too. But we mostly expect Die Werkself to do the hard work and score 2-3 goals against the limping visitors.
Borussia lost their last four Bundesliga away games, conceding 10 goals. Even Holstein Kiel trashed them last season. We will back the hosts and add Over 2.5 goals to the mix, as we expect Kasper Hjulmand to push them hard.
GambleAware