Bayern travels to the fear opponent to the Lower Rhine

For many Bundesliga clubs, the home match against FC Bayern is the big highlight of the season. However, while the majority of these clubs usually have to congratulate the Munich team on their victory after the 90 minutes played, Borussia Mönchengladbach has been able to defeat the record champions in front of their home crowd with almost unbelievable regularity in recent years. In four of the most recent five encounters at Borussia Park, the German industry leaders left the pitch as losers.

With this in mind, Saturday night’s exciting encounter at 18:30 is hard to beat in terms of explosiveness. However, it remains to be seen whether even the completely renewed Foals can give the so far flawless Tuchel eleven a leg up. The bookmakers do not really believe in it and offer in the duel Gladbach against Bayern for the tip on the home victory maximum odds of 8.00. The implied probability of occurrence in this case is a meager 13%.

The second-placed team in the table therefore goes into the away game on the Lower Rhine as the heavy favorites and is desperate to go into the international break with its third win in its third Bundesliga match.

Gladbach – statistics & current form

The 1990 world champion argued primarily with the painful departures and predicted a complicated 2023/24 game year for the Foals.Although it is of course too early after two completed matches to draw a first interim conclusion, the fear does not seem completely unfounded.

The team from the Lower Rhine has started anything but well with one point from two games and, above all, has already conceded seven goals. After a 3:3 loss to Augsburg, the Rhineland side suffered a 4:0 home defeat to Bayer Leverkusen, which exposed the team’s numerous deficits and weaknesses. Only Werder Bremen allowed more shots on goal (48) than Borussia (44) in the first two matchdays, and to make matters worse, Borussia will now face the team that has fired the most shots on goal (44).

Gladbach currently has the weakest defense in the Bundesliga

The fact that the situation on the Lower Rhine is nevertheless tense even at this early stage of the season is surely also due to the way the traditional club was without a chance against Leverkusen last week. Gerardo Seoane is only the third Gladbach coach to start a Bundesliga season with two winless games this millennium. After Friedel Rausch almost 30 years ago, Seoane is also only the second BMG coach ever to start his tenure with a home defeat in league play.

In view of all these disturbing and not particularly confident facts and figures, it would be a huge surprise if the Fohlen eleven, which has changed and rejuvenated in many positions, could keep something countable at home on Saturday night.

However, we are not a fan of betting on such a sensational coup and therefore refrain from a forecast in the direction of the home side between Gladbach and Bayern. Not least because Borussia has won just one of its last ten Saturday night games (four draws, five defeats).

Predicted lineup of Gladbach:

Gladbach (Expected lineup) 3-4-3

Bayern – statistics & current form

After losing the Supercup final against RB Leipzig (0:3), the first crisis at FC Bayern was almost talked about. Thomas Tuchel was questioned and also in terms of a twelfth championship in a row, quiet doubts were expressed. However, with two highly deserved and largely convincing victories on the first two match days, the FCB pros have initially shut their critics’ mouths.

On the first matchday, Werder Bremen was blown out of the Weser Stadium 4:0, and at home against FC Augsburg the final score was 3:1. It was striking that in both cases the foundation for the subsequent success was laid in the first half. It should also be noted that in eleven Bundesliga games under Thomas Tuchel, the Munich team has not conceded a single goal in the first 45 minutes. It is therefore quite possible that the odds on the double HT2/FT2 will also pay off on Saturday night between Gladbach and Bayern.

Who should stop Harry Kane?

Of course, Harry Kane is first and foremost in question again as a potential goalscorer. The English national team captain laced his first brace against FCA and is already on three goals for the season. Only Gustav Jung (1967) and Adolfo Valencia (1993) have scored three goals in their first two Bundesliga games for the record champions.

Across teams, Kane has thus always scored at least once in his last seven league games. The Gladbach vs. Bayern odds of 2.87 on another brace from the new star striker are therefore definitely worth considering.

Just like the intimidating record in Saturday night games. With the exception of the 1:3 defeat in the to date last Saturday evening match on the 33rd matchday of the preseason against RB Leipzig, none of the past 27 matches of this kind was lost.

Predicted Bayern lineup:

Bayern Munich (Expected lineup) 4-2-3-1

Gladbach – Bayern Direct comparison / H2H balance

Only the Bayern vs Bremen pairing has been seen more often in Germany’s top division than the Gladbach vs Bayern classic. No club has defeated Munich more often than Borussia Mönchengladbach (28). However, the Foals also suffered 51 (!) defeats.

A look at the recent history is much more exciting, as the team from the Lower Rhine region turned out to be a typical fearful opponent for the FCB. The Bavarians lost four of the last five games at Borussia Park. In addition, the record champion has now waited for five cross-competition duels for a victory (two draws, three defeats) against Borussia, who last remained without a goal in a Bundesliga home match against the industry leader in the 2016/17 season.

Gladbach – Bayern tip

On Saturday it’s that time again. FC Bayern is a guest at Borussia Park. Four of the last five away games at this venue, the Munich team has not only lost, but also conceded a total of 14 (!) goals. Without a doubt, therefore, the term “fear opponent” can be applied. However, despite these statistics, this time the bookmakers assume that Borussia’s impressive home streak will end against FCB.

This view of things is impressively supported by the betting odds between Gladbach and Bayern. Accordingly, anything other than a relatively commanding away win for the South Germans would be a surprise, which we rule out almost completely in view of the matches so far. The Foals have just a single point on their account, while the Tuchel team has proven its qualities with two clear victories

Because various statistics also suggest that the record champion, similar to against Augsburg and Bremen, will already lead after 45 minutes, we force in the traditional duel Gladbach vs. Bayern the tip on the double result HT2/FT2. For Harry Kane and Co. to be ahead at half-time on Saturday evening and ultimately take the three points from the Niederrhein, a solid 1.83 is offered, which we play with seven units.