Borussia Dortmund v Borussia M`gladbach
Football : Germany : Bundesliga
Signal Iduna Park
Saturday, 6th March 2010 – kickoff 18:30

Borussia Dortmund

Borussia Dortmund have lost against Schalke 04 last weekend in the Ruhr derby and that loss put them in a bad position to fear for their fifth place as the difference between five teams at the table is from one to five points.

This team raised the red flag as they now have four defeats in the last five matches. However, three of those four losses were against Bayern Munich, Schalke 04 and Stuttgart, teams that are in great form after the winter break.

One of the reasons for the BVB negative form is the absence of several important players. Another blow for the team is the injury of the central defender Mats Hummells who suffered a jaw injury in the last match when he collided with Schalke 04 goalkeeper and underwent surgery which will prevent him at least six weeks from playing. Felipe Santana will take his place in the defense where he will play alongside Neven Subotic who is one of the best players in the team.

Some of the first team regulars gave excellent performances in their national squads. Mohamed Zidan gave Egypt a 1-0 lead against England and Jakub Blaszczykowski scored for Poland in the match against Bulgaria. Both players will b e in the attack for this match in the standard 4-4-2 formation that coach Klopp uses.

Good news for the team is the return of the team captain Sebastian Kehl who was out for a long time through injury and he is now ready and set to return in the starting eleven.

Sven Bender and Damien Le Tallec are definitely out of the team through injuries and there is question mark on whether the attacker Nelson Valdez will play as he has a minor thigh injury, but there are some chances that he will be in the squad.

Lucas Barrios served his one match suspension because of yellow cards and he will be the main striking force up front, where his partner will be Grosskreutz.

Borussia Monchengladbach

Borussia M`gladbach got only 1-1 draw against SC Freiburg last weekend and failed to materialize their many chances and even though M`gladbach had constant pressure throughout the match, SC Freiburg held them to a well deserved draw.

Borussia Monchengladbach have a good series of matches recently as they have lost only once (1-0 at Mainz) in the last six matches (two wins and three draws). That fact relieves the team from pressure and at the moment thay are 13 points clear from the relegation places.

Coach Michael Frontzeck had to hold trainings without ten players that were out during the week for international duties.

Midfielder Marco Reus has a knee injury and has not trained with the squad for a week and he is unavailable for selection. Thorben Marx and Christian Dorda are also injured and not able to help their team mates.

Raul Bobadilla will be the only striker in the attack for this match.

The Betting Verdict

The first match between these teams ended in 1-0 win for Borussia Dortmund with Lucas Barrios scoring the winning goal, and from that win Borussia Dortmund went on unbeaten run of twelve straight matches.

The return of the team captain in the starting line up after being out for a long time should give boost to Borussia Dortmund and with Lucas Barrios in the attack this team will probably give much better performance than last week against Schalke 04.

Monchengladbach are relying on their good defense but they also play nice ‘fluid’ football which creates chances and they also score a lot. I expect this to be a tougher match than expected but probably Borussia Dortmund will find a way to get an important win that will keep them closer to the European spots.

The Statistics :

The Pick :

Borussia Dortmund 2-1 Borussia M`gladbach

FIXED ODDS BETTING :

Home win for Borussia Dortmund