Borussia Monchengladbach take on Stuttgart in the Bundesliga on Saturday, with the hosts looking to secure European football for next season.
Stuttgart, meanwhile, can move one point behind their forthcoming opponents in the table with a victory as they look to finish in the top half of the table in their first season back in the Bundesliga.
Match preview
After handing out a couple of thrashings to Eintracht Frankfurt and Arminia Bielefeld in recent weeks, Gladbach were on the wrong end of one themselves last weekend to champions Bayern Munich.
The Bavarians had received confirmation of a ninth successive Bundesliga title prior to kickoff due to RB Leipzig's defeat to Borussia Dortmund, and Hansi Flick's side duly played like one which had significant pressure lifted from them as they cruised to a 6-0 win.
Gladbach's defending was disappointingly passive and limp, though, with Bayern's array of attacking talent frequently afforded too much time and space to effortlessly move the ball around their opponent's penalty box.
Unsurprisingly, Robert Lewandowski had a field day, moving only one goal behind Gerd Muller's record tally of 40 Bundesliga goals in a season by scoring his fifth league hat-trick of the season.
Fortunately for Gladbach, Union Berlin also lost, which ensures European qualification remains in Die Fohlen's own hands.
However, with Urs Fischer's side, Freiburg and their forthcoming opponents Stuttgart all chasing them down for a place in next season's inaugural UEFA Europa Conference League, they are likely to require a decent finish to manager Marco Rose's successful spell at the club in order to get over the line ahead of the 44-year-old's summer switch to Dortmund.
Stuttgart, meanwhile, ended a run of four successive defeats by beating struggling Augsburg 2-1 at home on Friday evening, with Sasa Kalajdzic's 15th league goal of the season bagging the three points.
Philipp Forster provided the hosts with an 11th-minute lead after Kalajdzic delightfully laid the ball into the midfielder's path with a delicate touch, with Stuttgart's stand-in goalkeeper Fabian Bredlow making two superb saves to deny Marco Richter as equaliser before half time.
However, Richter's persistence paid off after the break, with the forward keeping the ball alive at the back post to help Florian Niederlechner nod Augsburg level. Kalajdzic headed Stuttgart back into the lead, though, with the towering forward always favourite to meet Darko Churlinov's cross.
Regardless of what happens in their final two matches, it has been a successful campaign for Pellegrino Matarazzo's side having only gained promotion last season. If they could secure a top-half finish - or even perhaps qualify for Europe - then that would be a sizable cherry on top and a strong platform to build on for next season.
- W
- D
- W
- L
- W
- L
- W
- L
- L
- L
- L
- W
Team News
Gladbach will remain without fringe players Torben Musel and Mamadou Doucoure due to injury, but otherwise Rose has no known issues with his group of first-team players.
The 44-year-old is likely to make a few changes to the side which was humbled by Bayern, with Alassane Plea, Lars Stindl and Christoph Kramer pushing for starts.
Stuttgart, meanwhile, will travel to Monchengladbach without the suspended Naouirou Ahamada after the midfielder's straight red card in the recent defeat to Leipzig earned him a two-match ban.
Bredlow is likely to continue in goal due to Gregor Kobel's back issue, while Atakan Karazor and Darko Churlinov could start having replaced the injured Konstantinos Mavropanos and Roberto Massimo respectively during the win over Augsburg, with the Arsenal loanee picking up a muscle injury.
Tanguy Coulibaly also had to come off during Friday night's victory having sustained a serious ligament injury after only entering the match as a substitute himself, with the winger set to be sidelined until July.
In truth, Matarazzo is blighted with injury problems and probably cannot wait for the season to be over, with the likes of Silas Wamangituka, Nicolas Gonzalez, Orel Mangala, Lilian Egloff and Marcin Kaminski all unlikely to be available again this season.
Borussia Monchengladbach possible starting lineup:
Sommer; Lainer, Ginter, Elvedi, Bensebaini; Neuhaus, Kramer; Hofmann, Stindl, Thuram; Plea
Stuttgart possible starting lineup:
Bredlow; Karazor, Anton, Kempf; Churlinov, Klement, Endo, Sosa; Didavi, Forster; Kalajdzic
We say: Borussia Monchengladbach 3-1 Stuttgart
Gladbach have been strong at home lately, so given Stuttgart's mounting injury crisis, Rose's side really should be edging closer to a European qualification finish by winning here.
If Die Fohlen's attacking talent combine to their full potential, there should be no way Matarazzo's patched-up XI can live with them.
