Borussia Mönchengladbach romped to victory in the DFB Cup last weekend but the Foals should find the going much tougher on Saturday (kick-off 06:30 PM CEST/ 04:30 PM GMT/ 12:30 AM EST) when they host a Bayer Leverkusen side that is gunning for a top-four finish this season.
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Thorgan Hazard, Raffael and new striker Alassane Plea all scored hat-tricks in Gladbach’s 11-1 win at fifth-tier side Hastedt last weekend as a perfect warm-up for this blockbuster opening game. Dieter Hecking is likely to select that same front three again this week, and he will hardly need to remind his players that they were on the end of a 5-1 hammering when Leverkusen visited last October. Yann Sommer will wear the captain’s armband in the absence of another attacker, Lars Stindl, who is still out through injury.
A Lucas Alario penalty was all that Leverkusen could muster against another fifth-division team, Pforzheim, in their cup match. Die Werkself have been boosted, though, by Leon Bailey's decision to sign a new contract with the club, and the Jamaican winger should return this week after missing the cup game with a cold. Goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky returned to training late last week still wearing a protective mask following a jaw problem, but it would still be a surprise if Ramazan Özcan kept his place in the team ahead of the recent signing from Eintracht Frankfurt.
Probable line-ups
Gladbach: Sommer (c) – Beyer, Jantschke, Ginter, Wendt – Neuhaus, Kramer – Raffael, Hofmann, Hazard - PleaAbsentees: Elvedi (appendicitis), Benes (hamstring), Stindl (ankle), Lang (knee), Villalba (torn muscle)Coach: Dieter Hecking
Leverkusen: Hradecky – Weiser, Tah, S. Bender, Wendell – L. Bender (c), Kohr – Brandt, Havertz, Bailey - AlarioAbsentees: Baumgartlinger (knee), Pohjanpalo (ankle), Retsos (thigh) Coach: Heiko Herrlich