Borussia Mönchengladbach vs. Union Berlin preview: Hosts in desperate need of three points

Gladbach

Gladbach have drifted towards the bottom three after taking just three points from their last seven matches. In fact, they have failed to take anything from their last two outings, falling to a heavy 3-0 defeat against Eintracht Frankfurt at Deutsche Bank Park, before they were beaten 2-1 in last Sunday’s away meeting with Freiburg. Those two results made it six consecutive away league games since Gladbach picked up their most recent away victory in December’s clash with Mainz 05. 

Results have not been much better in recent outings at Borussia-Park, having won just one of their previous six competitive home games (D2, L3). With his team sitting just two points clear of the danger zone, Eugen Polanski knows his team needs to deliver in front of their supporters in Saturday’s meeting with Union - a team they beat 1-0 in the last home encounter between the two sides in September 2024. 

Scoring the first goal could be crucial to Gladbach’s hopes of victory, considering they have lost all 11 of the 12 league games in which they have conceded first this season (D1). 

Team News

The hosts remain without Nathan Ngoumou, Tim Kleindienst and Robin Hack, while Saturday’s contest will come too soon for USA international Giovanni Reyna. In positive news, Alejo Sarco is set to return from a two-game injury absence. 

Predicted lineup: Nicolas; Diks, Elvedi, Takai, Ullrich; Reitz, Sander, Engelhardt, Mohya; Tabakovic, Honorat

Union Berlin

Union will head on their travels with a renewed sense of belief after ending a seven-game winless run with a narrow 1-0 victory over Bayer Leverkusen last weekend. Rani Khedira scored the decisive goal in the 28th minute to fire Union to their first win of 2026. 

After enjoying success on home turf, the ninth-placed side will now be looking to record their away victory of the calendar year. However, their first priority will be to avoid a third consecutive away defeat after losing 3-1 to Hoffenheim and 3-2 to Hamburg in their last two road trips.

Union may have lost in last season’s trip to Borussia-Park, but that result represents their only defeat in the past five Bundesliga away meetings with Gladbach (W2, D2). They can also take confidence from the fact that they recorded a 3-1 home victory over die Fohlen in October’s reverse fixture, which came courtesy of a Danilho Doekhi brace and a Khedira effort. 

Team News

Baumgart will be unable to call upon Diogo Leite, Josip Juranović, Tom Rothe and Robert Skov. Meanwhile, Andrej Ilić will serve a one-match ban for an accumulation of yellow cards. 

Predicted lineup: Rønnow; Doekhi, Querfeld, Nsoki; Trimmel, Khedira, Kemlein, Köhn; Jeong, Schäfer; Ansah