Borussia Monchengladbach vs St Pauli Prediction: In-form visitors to deny hurt hosts

Two of the German Bundesliga’s relegation-threatened sides, Borussia Monchengladbach and St Pauli, face off in Friday’s fixture at the former’s Borussia Park (19:30 GMT, BBC iPlayer). The 12th-placed hosts are only six points behind mid-table outfit FC Augsburg, but more pressingly, they are just a point above their next opponents, who are 16th, occupying the relegation play-off zone.

Below are my Borussia Monchengladbach vs St Pauli predictions, supported by all the latest team news and match odds, ahead of this crunch clash in Monchengladbach.

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New customers only. Deposit via Debit Card & place first bet £10+ (1/1+) on Sports in 7 days. £30 Sports & £20 Acca Free Bets within 10 hrs of settlement. 7-day expiry. Eligibility, payment excl. & T&Cs Apply.

Team News

Rocco Reitz is suspended after receiving a red card in Borussia Monchengladbach's 4-1 defeat at Bayern Munich last Friday, while injury is likely to deprive boss Eugen Polanski of Tim Kleindienst (knee), Robin Hack (muscle), Nathan Ngoumou (Achilles) and Kota Takai (muscle).

Football Odds

St Pauli's injury list is extensive, with Karol Mets (calf), Andreas Hountondji, Ricky-Jade Jones, James Sands (all ankle), Mathias Rasmussen (muscle), David Nemeth (groin) among those set to sit out Friday's contest for Alexander Blessin's men.

Borussia Monchengladbach vs St Pauli Odds

Borussia Monchengladbach are 1/1 favourites, implying a 50% probability of success, with St Pauli priced at 11/4, (26.7%), and the draw offered at 23/10.

Double Chance - Draw or St Pauli @ 4/5

Gladbach are in dire form, winning just one of their last nine games (D3, L5), and they suffered three defeats in their last four (W1).

St Pauli are trending in the opposite direction, winning three, drawing one and losing just one of their last five matches, and they’ve kept clean sheets in their last two, winning 1-0 at Hoffenheim and drawing 0-0 with Eintracht Frankfurt.

Today's Football Fixtures

Gladbach blitzed St Pauli in November's reverse fixture, thrashing their hosts 4-0, but Kiezkicker exacted their revenge in the DFB-Pokal a month later, winning 2-1 at Borussia-Park, and I'm backing the visitors to come away with something on Friday.

Bet Builder - Kevin Stoger (BMG) 2+ Shots & Mathias Pereira Lage (STP) 2+ Shots @ 7/4

Gladbach midfielder Kevin Stoger, who is averaging 1.3 shots per 90 in this season's Bundesliga, only came off the bench in the 85th minute of November's reverse meeting with St Pauli, but in the cup tie the following month, he started and lasted until the 86th minute, firing three shots off, one of which hit the target.

St Pauli attacker Mathias Pereira Lage, meanwhile, is averaging two shots per 90 in the Bundesliga, and he's recorded three in each of his last two appearances against Hoffenheim and Eintracht Frankfurt. The Frenchman shot twice against Gladbach in November's league game, too, despite being taken off at half-time, and managed one in 89 minutes of their DFB-Pokal meeting.