Borussia Monchengladbach look to stop Bayern Munich title charge

Bayern Munich could go level on points with title rivals Borussia Dortmund with a win over Borussia Monchengladbach, after the league leaders suffered a shock 2-1 defeat at Augsburg on Friday night.

Many believed the Bundesliga title was heading for Dortmund before the winter break, but a stutter by Die Borussen and a fine run of form from Bayern Munich has seen the race for the title blown wide open. Borussia Monchengladbach find themselves trailing in third place, eight points behind this weekends opponents.

The fixture between these sides earlier in the season saw Gladbach run out comfortable 3-0 winners at The Allianz arena. Jonas Hofmann proving the key figure in that emphatic win, assisting the first two goals, scored by Alassane Pléa and Lars Stindl. But the home side come into this game on the back of a defeat of the same scoreline to Wolfsburg last weekend. A loss which extended their winless streak to three games.

Bayern Munich meanwhile have lost just once in 16 matches, failing to win just three of the remaining 15. The German giants have a second leg of the Champions League to look forward to, after they returned from Liverpool with a respectable 0-0 draw. But Bayern come into the game with a long list of players struggling with knocks and injuries. The most notable worries for Niko Kovac are David Alaba, Kingsley Coman, Manuel Neuer and star striker Robert Lewandowski, although the Croatian will be able to call on Thomas Mueller who was suspended for the Champions League tie against Liverpool.

Monchengladbach have proved to be somewhat of a bogey side for Bayern Munich in recent years. Of the 13 meetings between these sides since 2014, Bayern have won just four. Two of those victories came in the 2016/17 season when Bayern stormed the Bundesliga and Gladbach languished in ninth place.

Thorgan Hazard has failed to score in his last six games, but six of his nine goals this season have come on home turf. Bayern Munuch boast the leagues second top scorer in Lewandowski, the 13 goal forward has attemped more shots that anyone in the league this season, with 79.