Borussia Mönchengladbach vs. St. Pauli preview: Two teams targeting survival | OneFootball

Gladbach

Gladbach are currently battling to preserve their 18-year stay in the top flight, having won just one of their previous nine matches. That victory arrived at the end of February when Kevin Diks scored a 94th-minute penalty in Gladbach’s home clash against Union Berlin. However, they were unable to build upon that result in their most recent outing against leaders Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena. 

Rocco Reitz was dismissed when Gladbach were trailing by a 2-0 scoreline, which soon became four following a Jamal Musiala penalty and a Nicolas Jackson effort. Gladbach substitute Wael Mohya came off the bench to net his first senior goal, but it ultimately counted for very little as Gladbach fell to a third consecutive Bundesliga away defeat. 

As a result of that loss, Gladbach head into Friday’s fixture in 12th place and just a point clear of St. Pauli in the relegation playoff spot. They will hope to extend that gap by recording consecutive home league victories for the first time since winning four consecutive Bundesliga matches at Borussia-Park between September and November 2024 - a run that included a 2-0 victory over St. Pauli. 

The hosts also have the chance to complete a league double over their opponents after cruising to a 4-0 success in November’s reverse fixture.

Team News

Gladbach are unable to call upon Tim Kleindienst, Kota Takai, Robin Hack and Nathan Ngoumou due to injury, while Rocco Reitz is suspended following his dismissal against Bayern. 

Predicted lineup: Nicolas; Sander, Elvedi, Diks; Scally, Engelhardt, Stöger, Castrop; Honorat, Mohya, Tabaković

St. Pauli

St. Pauli are languishing in 16th spot after winning six, drawing six and losing 13 of their 25 Bundesliga matches. Alexander Blessin’s side are sitting below Mainz 05 and FC Köln on goal difference, while, crucially, they boast a four-point advantage over Wolfsburg in the automatic relegation spots. 

While may be in the bottom three, St. Pauli have boosted their survival hopes with an upturn in form that has seen them lose just once in the past five matches. St. Pauli followed a 2-1 win over Stuttgart with a heavy defeat against Bayer Leverkusen, before they returned to winning ways with a 2-1 success over Werder Bremen. After going on to beat Hoffenheim by a 1-0 scoreline, St. Pauli made it back-to-back clean sheets in last Sunday’s goalless draw against Eintracht Frankfurt. The stalemate also extended the club’s unbeaten home run to six Bundesliga matches (W3, D3).

They will now head on their travels with hopes of beating Gladbach at Borussia-Park for the second time this season after recording a 2-1 victory in December’s DFB-Pokal tie.

Team News

James Sands and Manolis Saliakas are both ruled out after sustaining injuries in the goalless draw with Frankfurt. The visitors are also without the services of Karol Mets and Ricky-Jade Jones. 

Predicted lineup: Vasilj; Wahl, Smith, Ando; Pyrka, Fujita, Irvine, Ritzka; Lage, Metcalfe; Sinani