Mönchengladbach at home – being more clinical

For Stani, Gladbach are, alongside Bayern Munich, one of the hardest teams to play against, due to their good organisation and ability to switch from defence to attack. “They work as a unit when they don't have the ball, play with a lot of energy and have a lot of quality up front. We can't commit ourselves too much as they are also dangerous on the counter-attack”, said the manager. Regarding his own team, Stani is hoping for more some more quality up front. “We have to play with the necessary patience, but we also have to be clinical. We won't get many chances, so it's important we stick them away when they come.”

Clear Words

Stani was clear in his mind what his team's problem was in last week's defeat at Stuttgart: there was too much style and not enough substance. “We were too over-creative in that game. I would rather we had taken more shots, even if they were off target, than continued to pass the ball sideways. If we want to win on Saturday, we need to move the ball around much quicker. Our problem last week was that there was no zip or tempo to our play, and we constantly gave Stuttgart enough time to organise themselves. That made our task much harder.”

Ibisevic to get his chance?

1899 have now gone three games without a goal. But Bosnian international Vedad Ibisevic came on in the 62nd minute of the Stuttgart game for his first league appearance of the season, and could be in line for his first start. “He is one option, yes”, said Stanislawski at Thursday's press conference. Sejad Salihovic and Tobias Weis must wait for their comeback. Also missing is must goalkeeper Tom Starke, who suffered concussion in training today after being hit by a ball from close range. Daniel Haas will replace him between the posts against Gladbach. “We're lucky to have two fantastic keepers. Tom has been in great form this season, but now Danny can get his chance.” Luckily for Stani, Starke's concussion isn't too serious. “I sent him a text today, and he replied. He knows that I'm his manager, so that's a good sign”, joked the manager.

Hanke and Reus to play again

Hoffenheim have had their injury problems this season, but Gladbach manager Lucian Favre has not had it easy with player withdrawals of late either. He is facing something of a striker crisis, as Igor de Camargo (knee), Raul Bobadilla (adductor) and Matthew Leckie (thigh) are all out injured. “It doesn't leave me with many options, but then that's a good thing as I don't need to change the front players. And we still have players of enough quality to score goals.” Two players who have impressed recently are Mike Hanke and Marco Reus. “They have a good understanding with one another, and they work hard for the team too”, commented Favre. The Swiss coach is also expecting a tough game against Hoffenheim. “They have a lot of quality in their squad. Even in the second division they had a first division team, and were basically promoted by the half-way stage of that season. It will be tough, but we're optimistic we can end the club's poor recent record there.”

Stats and Facts

For Lucien Favre personally, games against Hoffenheim have been comparatively kind to him. He has won three of his last four meetings against them (twice with Hertha Berlin and once with Gladbach in last season's home fixture). A 5-1 home defeat to Hoffenheim in September 2009 did, however, signal the end of his reign at Hertha though. Hoffenheim have managed five wins, three draws and just one defeat in nine competitive matches against the Foals.

Match facts and statistics »