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Borussia Park will host one of the bigger rivalries in northwestern Germany this weekend as Borussia Monchengladbach face FC Koln in the Bundesliga.
Gladbach come into this game on the back of a 2-1 win over Stuttgart in the DFB-Pokal third round on Wednesday. Marco Rose would have been encouraged by that win for Gladbach, as they came from behind to win that game.
Silas Wamangituka gave Stuttgart the lead in the second minute of that game. However, Gladbach earned the victory thanks to goals from Marcus Thuram and Alassane Plea.
Gladbach are currently seventh in the Bundesliga. They are level on points with both Borussia Dortmund and Bayer Leverkusen, the teams immediately above them in the standings.
Koln, on the other hand, are struggling at the wrong end of the Bundesliga table. They got out of the relegation playoff spot with a 3-1 success over Arminia Bielefeld at home in their last game.
Marius Wolf scored twice in the first half to put Koln in charge of the game, before Elvis Rexhbecaj scored in the second half. Those strikes ensured that Sergio Cordova's late goal for Arminia Bielefeld was just a consolation.
However, Koln were knocked out of the DFB-Pokal in midweek, losing on penalties to lower division opposition in Jahn Regensburg. That game ended 2-2 after extra-time, but Koln lost 4-3 in the penalty shootout.
Borussia Monchengladbach vs FC Koln Head-to-Head
Gladbach have won 16 of their last 28 meetings against Koln, losing only six of those. There have been six draws in that time.
When these two sides met in league action in the reverse fixture in October, Gladbach won 3-1 at the RheinEnergie Stadion.
Borussia Monchengladbach form guide: W-W-W-D-W
FC Koln form guide: L-W-L-W-D
Borussia Monchengladbach vs FC Koln Team News
Borussia Monchengladbach
Gladbach continue to miss Mamadou Doucoure, Valentino Lazaro and Rocco Reitz, who are all still injured.
Injured: Valentino Lazaro, Mamadou Doucoure, Rocco Reitz
Doubtful: None
Suspended: None
FC Koln
Rafael Czichos, Sebastian Andersson and Florian Kainz are expected to miss this game for Koln.
Injured: Rafael Czichos, Sebastian Andersson, Florian Kainz
Doubtful: None
Suspended: None
Borussia Monchengladbach vs FC Koln Predicted XI
Borussia Monchengladbach Predicted XI (4-4-2): Yann Sommer; Stefan Lainer, Matthias Ginter, Nico Elvedi, Ramy Bensebaini; Hannes Wolf, Denis Zakaria, Florian Neuhaus, Jonas Hofmann; Lars Stindl, Alassane Plea
FC Koln Predicted XI (3-4-2-1): Timo Horn; Sebastiaan Bornauw, Jorge Mere, Sava-Arangel Cestic; Marius Wolf, Ellyes Skhiri, Salih Ozcan, Jonas Hector; Elvis Rexhbecaj, Ondrej Duda; Emmanuel Dennis
Borussia Monchengladbach vs FC Koln Prediction
When considering Koln's recent wins, it is important to note that they have only been against teams lower in the table.
We are predicting an easy win for Gladbach in this game.
Prediction: Borussia Monchengladbach 3-0 FC Koln
