Borussia Monchengladbach vs Bayern Munich: Matchday 3 Preview
Borussia Monchengladbach
Gladbach has not gotten off to the start they would have hoped for through the first two match days of the 23/24 Bundesliga season. They needed a 97th-minute penalty to equalize against Augsburg on match day one, while a heavy 3-0 defeat to a high-flying Leverkusen side last week, has left Gladbach with only one point and sitting 12th in the table.
Gladbach will be looking to again give Bayern Munich problems as they have done the last three seasons. Last season, Gladbach was able to take four points from the future champions, and I’m sure they would be happy to take anything from the match on Saturday.
Swiss goalkeeper Jonas Omlin was injured in training on Wednesday, so similar to Bayern Munich, Gladbach will be without their starting goalkeeper. Moritz Nicolas made the bench in each of the first two Bundesliga matches, so I can see the former German youth national teamer getting his first start for the full team.
In front of Nicolas, Japanese international Kou Itakura gets the start as the central CB in Gladbach’s back three. To his right, Franck Honorat should get the start with Maximillian Wober starting as the left-sided CB. Nico Elvedi seems to be a hot name as the transfer window looks to close on Friday, if he remains a Gladbach player, it would not surprise me to see the Swiss international get the start in place of Honorat on the right.
In front of Gladbach’s back three, I’m going to go with American Joe Scally on the right and German youngster Luca Netz on the left. Centrally, with both Manu Kone and Christoph Kramer still out due to knee injuries, Julian Weigl and Florian Neuhaus will serve to both protect the back 3 and support the attack when Gladbach is on the front foot.
Completing manager Gerardo Seoane’s midfield, look for Nathan Ngoumou and Alassane Plea to ignite the Gladbach attack. They will both be working behind center forward Tomas Cvancara. Cvancara will be looking for his fifth goal in his fourth match of the season after grabbing a brace in both Gladbach’s Pokal 1st round match and the match day one fixture against Augsburg.
"Predicted Starting XI (3-4-2-1) Nicolas Freidrich-Itakura-Wober Scally-Weigl-Neuhaus-Netz Ngoumou-Plea Cvancara"
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Predicted Score
Borussia Monchengladbach 1-2 Bayern Munich (Goals: Goretzka and Kane)
Bayern edges out a close one at Borussia Park. With Gladbach sitting in the back five, a shot or run from deep by Goretzka gets Bayern on the board. Kane continues to find himself around the area and is able to put a close-range finish away. As I mentioned last week, until I see a complete defensive performance, I don’t trust a Bayern Munich clean sheet.