Borussia Mönchengladbach vs Borussia Dortmund

Arguably one of the most exciting match-ups on the Bundesliga football schedule pits Borussia Mönchengladbach and Borussia Dortmund at Borussia-Park this weekend.

Adi Hutter’s managerial adventure at Borussia Mönchengladbach has started with a whimper rather than a bang, with ‘Die Fohlen’ last enduring a worse Bundesliga start under Dick Advocaat back in 2004 (W1, D1, L3). Sitting in the relegation zone ahead of the kick-off, Gladbach can hardly fall back on their recent top-flight H2H record on home soil, having lost five of their last six Bundesliga meetings with Dortmund at this venue (W1). Moreover, since pulling off a 2-0 victory in October 2013, Gladbach have failed to keep a clean sheet in any of their subsequent 15 league matches against this opposition, conceding a total of 36 goals in that sequence. Curiously, both Gladbach’s Bundesliga home goals let in this season came between the 40th minute and half-time.

In the meantime, four of Dortmund’s five Bundesliga goals scored away from home in 2021/22 arrived beyond half-time, with ‘Die Borussen’ scoring inside the opening 15 minutes of the second half in both league trips so far. Unlike their hosts, the visitors have hit the ground running in the Bundesliga this term, securing four victories in their first five league matches (L1) whilst netting the league second-high 17 goals in the process. The one similarity to Gladbach is that Dortmund have also failed to keep a clean sheet in any of their last eight Bundesliga outings, with Marco Rose’s men conceding 11 top-flight goals this season, their third-worst such tally at this stage of a campaign. Action-packed football in the later stage of play is well on the cards, considering that four of Dortmund’s five league games this season have seen a goal scored beyond the 75th minute.