Borussia Monchengladbach vs Stuttgart

Amends for a dreadful first half of the season are in store for Borussia Monchengladbach as they meet Stuttgart at Borussia-Park.

Borussia Monchengladbach must have been relieved to hear the Christmas break bells ringing after a dreadful five-game Bundesliga form toward the end of 2023 (W1, D1, L3) pinned them to mid-table. With only 17 points from 16 top-flight matches, ‘Die Fohlen’ have experienced their second-worst league start in the past 12 seasons, pouring significant pressure on manager Gerardo Seoane ahead of the impending Bundesliga return. Borussia-Park has at least been Gladbach’s safe haven, with a five-match undefeated league streak here (W3, D2) remaining perhaps the only reason Seoane is still in charge. With Gladbach netting 2+ goals on each occasion during that stretch, connoisseurs of action-packed football should be looking forward to this fixture, knowing it yielded a 3-1 win for the home side last term.

However, plenty has changed for Stuttgart since their last visit, as they welcomed the winter break in third, seven points clear of fifth-placed Borussia Dortmund. Despite blowing hot and cold across their last three league games at the tail-end of 2023 (W1, D1, L1), Sebastian Hoeness’ side signed off in style, thumping Augsburg 3-0 on home turf. That doesn’t mean ‘Die Schwaben’ can afford to take this trip lightly, especially after dropping points on two of their last three Bundesliga travels (W1, L2). Both those defeats came by 2+ goals ‘to nil,’ a scenario Stuttgart must be confident of avoiding in North Rhine-Westphalia after finding the back of the net in their last three away league H2Hs (W1, D1, L1).