Matches of the Week: Bayern Münich vs Borussia Mönchengladbach - a podcast by noreply@blogger.com (The Hat Trick)

As the Bundesliga starts to reach the midway point of the season, we look to this week's big matchup between European super-team Bayern Münich and last season's Bundesliga flop Borussia Mönchengladbach. Being played this upcoming Saturday, Bayern will be looking to win an important Bundesliga fixture after what should be an easy Champions League win against Anderlecht on Tuesday. Gladbach have started a steady campaign in the Bundesliga and are looking to make a push for a Champions League position. While Bayern sit in first, Gladbach are scraping to stay in fourth place, so this fixture can be a huge six pint swoop for the underdogs, if they manage to surprise the European giants.

Borussia Mönchengladbach is looking to continue their five game unbeaten streak, while claiming their top 4 spot in the Bundesliga. Gladbach was a regular top 4 side between the years of 2013-2016, however last season, the west German side finished at a shocking 9th place, never once looking like they deserved a Europa League place. With the lack of mid-week european competitions to weaken their fitness for bundesliga fixtures, Gladbach will be on the hunt to reclaim league glory, perhaps pushing to beat unconvincing Borussia Dortmund and other top german sides. However, Bayern Munich will always be the beast in the South for German clubs, and Gladbach don't look the side to contest that belief anytime soon. Gladbach are a well balanced side, conceding the same amount of goals they score, which will ultimately be their downfall, at least in terms of this fixture. We suspect that Gladbahc does not have the defensive capabilities to keep out Bayern stars such as Lewandowski and Robben. As well, Gladbach lack a real dangerous front 3, with key players such as Thorgan Hazard and Raffael causing chaos in front of net, yet not scoring as many goals as expected (both combine for 8). Gladbach will be hoping that their attackers can switch on for this fixture, and get some sneaky goals.

While their Champions League performances may be questioning, Bayern have not shown any sign of giving up the Bundesliga title anytime soon. With Robert Lewandowski sitting at 13 goals in all league fixtures, the south German side will be looking to beat down on 4th place team, and reinstate their unquestioning rule on the Bundesliga. Bayern's Mat Hummels and Jerome Boatang will have a tougher game than normal as Thorgan Hazard and Raffael look to create chances, however substitute keeper Sven Ulreich has been outstanding for Bayern while Manuel Neuer, easily the best goalkeeper in modern soccer, is suffering an injury. Bayern have a steady back line and undoubtedly the best attacker in the Bundesliga, but their midfield might be the best aspect of the European super team. With  Arturo Vidal being a beast box-to-box midfielder, and Tolisso adding youthful energy and heart to the center of the pitch, we see the third center mid position being given to the creative players on Bayern, such as James Rodriguez and Thomas Muller. In the beginning of the season we saw Muller take the starting position while a benched Rodriguez sat on the bench, for another season. However, Muller has had a long drought of good performances, especially in European competitions, so we have seen the Colombian hero take charge and get many more starts in league competitions. We can expect the Bayern team will continue with a 4-2-3-1 type formation, with James being the creative attacking prowess we remember from the World Cup.

Both of these teams will be giving this match their entire heart and soul to boost their side to a victory. It is an important high-end league fixture, with n improving Gladbach side ready to show their skill against the recently uncontested Bayern Munich squad. We see this result, however, siding with Munich giants, with a 3-1 result. Gladbach will want to score at least one against Bayern to show they can do something against Bayern Munich, but we don't think gladbach has a good enough team defensively to keep out Robben and Lewandowski. We will be talking about this result and the rest of the Bundesliga fixtures on "Bundesliga Sum-Up" Monday.

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