Match preview: Borussia Monchengladbach v. VfB Stuttgart

By: Pete | November 6th, 2009

Lots to talk about after a frenzied CL midweek and now back to domestic action. The biggest squad news going into the weekend is the injury blow to Serdar Tasci. He picked up the same foot injury that Khedira has and is expected to be out the rest of the calendar year; ouch. In a defense that is questionable at best this blow cannot be understated, especially during this important juncture of the year. Time for somebody to step up. Delpierre apparently also broke his hand in the same match, though it shouldn’t prevent him from missing much time if any at all.

Borussia Monchengladbach sit two points ahead of Stuttgart in the table. Their form has also been shabby as of late but have picked it up the past 2 matches with a draw and a win. Borussia Monchengladbach are amongst the worst in conceding goals which is a welcome sign considering the trouble Stuttgart has had in finishing throughout the year.

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Expect Babbel to once again shake up the lineup this weekend, juggling injuries and using the midweek clash as a barometer. Babbel has “strongly hinted” at starting Sebastian Rudy presumably over Roberto Hilbert. Babbel is also fully aware that his job is on the line and I’m sure will put out his finest XI to pick up a much needed win. Perhaps he realizes that another mediocre performance against a weaker team could do him in for good. News has leaked out that some journalists near the visitor’s locker room on Wednesday overheard Babbel’s spirited (read: pissed off) halftime speech with juicy excerpts like these coming out (taken from bild.de):

“We are absolutely scared stiff,

“But the only person here who has to have any fear is me. It is my job which is on the line.

“But I can tell you, I am not going to stick up for the team which I saw in the first half. That was catastrophic.”

He likened his rousing halftime speech to the way that sometimes a father has to yell at his children. It certainly struck a chord in Kuzmanovic who after scoring ran up and hugged Babbel, later citing the halftime speech as much needed upliftment to everyone on the club. I for one am thrilled to hear this. I’ll take the cornered animal fighting for his life any day; it’s all about survival. And if that means more rants and disowning your team if they are playing like crap at halftime then so be it.

Anyways I like Stuttgart’s chances. I haven’t done a score prediction in a while (I think my cumulative record is somewhere around 0-37) but here goes:

Borussia M’gladbach 2 Vfb Stuttgart 3