Borussia Monchengladbach will be aiming to end a four-game winless run in the Bundesliga when they travel to Arminia Bielefeld in the first weekend of the New Year.
The hosts have had a two-week break since their 1-0 win at Schalke 04 before Christmas, whereas Monchengladbach's most recent outing saw them cruise past SV Elversberg in the DFB-Pokal.
Match preview
© Reuters
Despite managing to prevail twice in their last four top-flight matches, Arminia are certainly regarded as one of the favourites for the drop heading into 2021.
The newly-promoted outfit have already lost nine times this season - an unwanted record that is also shared by bottom two sides Mainz 05 and Schalke - and only the latter have found the back of the net fewer times than Arminia this season.
However, Uwe Neuhaus's men did manage to pick up a vital victory over their relegation rivals in the final round of fixtures before Christmas, with Fabian Klos's second-half header enough to condemn Schalke to yet another defeat on December 19.
Arminia - who currently occupy 16th spot ahead of gameweek 14 - cannot drop into the automatic relegation places with defeat this weekend, although they could climb out of danger with a victory if Koln lose to Augsburg on Saturday.
While most teams in the top flight played their second-round DFB-Pokal matches before the festive period, Neuhaus's men fell at the first hurdle of the 2020-21 tournament and have had a full two weeks off before a daunting visit of Monchengladbach.
© Reuters
With no Champions League football to contend with for another seven weeks, Borussia Monchengladbach can simply focus on improving their Bundesliga fortunes after struggling for results in the back end of 2020.
Marco Rose's men found it difficult to cope with the demands of domestic and continental football, but they are safely through to the knockout stages of Europe's elite competition - where they will meet Manchester City - and the first leg of that tie is set to take place on February 24.
That leaves Monchengladbach with ample time to break back into the top four of the Bundesliga table having slipped away from the European-chasing pack in recent weeks, and Rose witnessed his side triumph just once in the month of December - a 5-0 thrashing of fourth-tier side Elversberg in the DFB-Pokal.
In spite of their recent troubles, Monchengladbach have had no problems finding the back of the net on the road and have struck at least twice in eight of their last nine away matches, with Real Madrid the only team to keep Die Fohlen at bay during that run.
Arminia did actually come out on top in their most recent clash with Monchengladbach - a penalty shoot-out victory in the 2014-15 DFB-Pokal - but this weekend's hosts have not beaten their opponents in the Bundesliga since 2003.
Arminia Bielefeld Bundesliga form: LLWLLW
Borussia Monchengladbach Bundesliga form: DWDDDL
Borussia Monchengladbach form (all competitions): DLDDLW
Team News
© Reuters
Arminia Bielefeld still have a number of injury concerns despite their extended break, although Cedric Brunner is good to go after being forced off in the last 10 minutes against Schalke.
Andreas Voglsammer and Joakim Nilsson are being restricted to individual training as they work their way back from calf and thigh problems respectively, while Hertha Berlin loanee Arne Maier is struggling with an ankle problem.
As for Monchengladbach, Marcus Thuram serves the second of a six-game ban for spitting, so Patrick Herrmann will be eyeing a starting role after coming off the bench to net his side's fourth against Elversberg.
Left-back Ramy Bensebaini is yet to make his comeback from coronavirus five weeks after testing positive, but Rose has expressed optimism over his availability for this showdown.
Alassane Plea should return to lead the line for the visitors after recovering from a thigh problem, while Yann Sommer and Florian Neuhaus are also expected to come back into the first XI after being benched for the win over Elversberg.
Arminia Bielefeld possible starting lineup:
Moreno; Brunner, Van der Hoorn, Pieper, Lucoqui; Doan, Prietl, Hartel, Soukou; Cordova, Klos
Borussia Monchengladbach possible starting lineup:
Sommer; Lainer, Ginter, Elvedi, Wendt; Zakaria, Neuhaus; Wolf, Stindl, Hofmann; Plea
We say: Arminia Bielefeld 0-2 Borussia Monchengladbach
Even without the highly-rated Thuram, Monchengladbach have an eye for goal in away matches and ought to be confident of returning to winning ways against a struggling Arminia outfit. The hosts will put up a fight but we cannot see their efforts counting for something against a Monchengladbach side with a point to prove, so the visitors should begin 2021 with a routine win this weekend.
