Schalke vs Borussia Monchengladbach
UEFA Europa League – Round of 16, Second Leg
Date: Thursday, 16th March 2017
Kick off at 20:05 UK / 21:05 CET
Venue: Stadium im BORUSSIA-PARK.
Borussia Monchengladbach
Last Monday Borrusia were beaten by Hamburger 2-1 and that ended their five matches without defeat where they won four time, then played a draw against Schalke in the last 16 of the Europa League. Hamburger looked better then Borussia who look tired. Still it has to be said that was their first defeat on their travels since they were taken over by coach Hecking.
Interestingly in the Cup they did beat Hamburger and in doing so won a place in the semi finals of the cup. But now they are without two of their best strikers in Stindl and Raffael and without them they are toothless upfront. Their only goal was scored by center-back A.Christensen in that defeat to Hamburger. Jantschke will now be back after he was rested in that match. Raffael should now start this match while Stindl is doubtful. Definitely out of the side will be Hazard.
Schalke:
Schalke failed to win the first leg as it ended 1-1 and that was the sixth match in which they failed to win. They at least managed to win in the Bundesliga when they beat Augsburg and that was their first after a month. Schalke was 2-0 up when Augsburg had a penalty but then goalkeeper Fahrmann managed to saved it and keep their goal intact. Schalke then scored another goal as they were cruising by 3-0 before halftime and it stayed that way until the end.
No doubt their outstanding player was G.Burgstaller as he scored their first two goals. He also scored in the match against Borussia in the first leg. For this match Stambouli as well as Schopf and Goretzka will return to the side. They are likely to play with four at the back here.
Borussia Monchengladbach vs Schalke 04: Head to head
Gladbach have been the more successful side in the history of head to head clashes with Schalke. The Borussen claimed 38 victories from 89 matches, including the one from the start of the month when they scored as many as four goals on the home court.
This will thus be the third H2H encounter between the two sides in 10 days. Jonas Hoffman put Gladbach in front early in the game, while Burgstaller came out with the equalizer just ten minutes later.
Borussia Monchengladbach vs Schalke 04: Prediction
Since most of the previous head to head clashes ended in goal fests and since the visitors need to look for an away goal which would get them back in the tie, we simply have no other option but to back the Over 2.5 goals as the top pick at the odds of 17/20.
We also see a tremendous value in backing Gladbach to qualify because Hecking rested his key players and because they have a positive result from the first leg at VELTINS-Arena.
Borussia Monchengladbach vs Schalke 04: Bet Tips
The number one bet will be Over 2.5 goals at 17/20.
Borussia Monchengladbach to qualify is paid at 8/15.
