Can the Foals redeem themselves in the Rhineland derby?
After a solid start to the season, Borussia Mönchengladbach suffered a 5-1 defeat at promoted Werder Bremen last Saturday. The Foals conceded as many goals in this match alone as they had in the previous seven league games. Now, of all times, arch-rivals 1. FC Köln are visiting Borussia-Park for the Rhineland derby.
The team from the Lower Rhine will be hoping to make amends for their recent defeat, but they will be up against an in-form opponent who have only lost one of their eight league games – the best record in the league. Nevertheless, in the run-up to the encounter between Gladbach and Cologne, the bookmakers’ odds are swinging in favour of the home side.
Not only do the Geißböcke bring the current momentum with them, however. The Effzeh have also won the last three derbies against the Foals and could now win four Bundesliga duels in a row against their great rivals for the first time in 39 years. This is matched by the fact that the Cathedral City side are unbeaten away from home in four Bundesliga games (one win, three draws).
It is clear that a bet must take into account the not exactly small possibility of the points being shared. We therefore recommend betting on the double chance X2 for Gladbach against Cologne. If the risk is still too great for you, you can add even more security to the ticket by using a free bet.
Gladbach – Statistics & current form
2020/21 Borussia Mönchengladbach were still in the last 16 of the Champions League. Last season, however, the team from the Lower Rhine only finished in a disappointing tenth place in the final table. The upheaval in the summer was correspondingly large.
With Daniel Farke, an interesting coach took over for the luckless Adi Hütter, while with Julian Weigl, among others, interesting new arrivals could be lured to the only German city with two main railway stations.
Only one win from last four league games
At first, Gladbach also got off to a good start, defying FC Bayern for the first point of the 2022/23 season on matchday four and standing in the top third of the table with eight points out of a possible twelve.
However, the Foals were then only able to win one of the following four league matches, and in two of these games they failed to score a goal of their own. Because the defence was also completely out of sorts recently and conceded five goals in Bremen – as many goals as in the seven league games before – Gladbach slipped down the table to ninth place.
The best home defence in the Bundesliga
The Foals are still a long way from a crisis. However, it is clear that a fourth defeat in a row against arch-rivals Cologne would make the fans even more discontented and would finally use up the credit of the good start to the season.
However, at least the bookmakers believe the team from the Lower Rhine can turn the tide in their own stadium.
Predicted line-up of Gladbach:
Sommer – Bensebaini – Elvedi – Friedrich – Lainer – Koné – Weigl – Stindl – Kramer – Hofmann – Thuram
Last matches played by Gladbach:
Bundesliga
01/10/2022 – Werder Bremen 5 – 1 Gladbach
17/09/2022 – Gladbach 3 – 0 RB Leipzig
11/09/2022 – SC Freiburg 0 – 0 Gladbach
04/09/2022 – Gladbach 0 – 1 Mainz 05
27/08/2022 – Bayern Munich 1 – 1 Gladbach
Cologne – Statistics & current form
Last season, 1. FC Köln finished seventh in the final table in their first year in charge under Steffen Baumgart, who quickly achieved cult status in the Dommetropole. The Effzeh thus qualified for the Conference League and returned to European competition after a five-year absence.
There, things looked very good for two matchdays with four points out of six and 5:3 goals. On Thursday evening, however, the billy goats paid a lot of dues against the defensively very compact and tough FK Partizan Belgrade and were defeated 0:1 at home.
Only lost one of their first eight league games
But apart from that minor setback, which was only their third defeat in their 14th competitive match of the 2022/23 season, things have gone extremely well for Cologne so far. In the Bundesliga, the Cathedral City team lost only one of its first eight games – a league-wide best.
Although they have already drawn four games, they have also won “only” three. With the recent 3:2 home win over Borussia Dortmund, the Effzeh climbed back up to seventh place and can dream of another year in Europe, regardless of how the Conference League goes.
Still unbeaten away from home in the 2022/23 season
With a view to the fact that the last three games in a row against the Foals have been won and the Effzeh are still completely unbeaten away from home in the 2022/23 season, it makes perfect sense to bet on the next point win for the Geißböcke in Gladbach against Cologne.
After all, despite the double burden, Steffen Baumgart also had his eye on the stress control during the week when seven players rotated to the bench against the Serbians in the Conference League who were previously still on the pitch against Dortmund in the 3:2 win.
Predicted line-up of Cologne:
Schwäbe – Hector – Hübers – Kilian – Schmitz – Skhiri – Kainz – Duda – Ljubicic – Maina – Tigges
Last matches played by Köln:
European Conference League Grp. D
07/10/2022 – 1. FC Köln 0 – 1 Partizan Belgrade
Bundesliga
01/10/2022 – 1. FC Köln 3 – 2 Borussia Dortmund
18/09/2022 – VfL Bochum 1 – 1 1. FC Köln
Europa Conference League Grp. D
16/09/2022 – 1. FC Köln 4 – 2 Slovacko
Bundesliga
11/09/2022 – 1. FC Köln 0 – 1 Union Berlin
Gladbach – Cologne Direct Comparison / H2H Balance
Head to head: 60 – 23 – 45
The Rhineland derby between Gladbach and Cologne has taken place a total of 128 times so far and Borussia lead the direct comparison with 60 victories. Most recently, however, the Effzeh have recorded three wins in a row and in 2021/22 won both the first and second legs in league action against the Foals for the first time since the 1989/90 season.
Gladbach – Cologne Tip
With Gladbach against Cologne, it must be taken into account in the forecast that the Effzeh left some grit in the Conference League during the week and also suffered a small setback in the 0:1 home defeat against Partizan Belgrade. However, given the tough rotation, the Rhineland derby should once again see a very strong squad on the pitch, which should never be written off even if they fall behind.
There is a lot to be said for the Cathedral City side getting something to show for their efforts against their arch-rivals. After all, the Foals only suffered a 5-1 defeat in Bremen last weekend.
