It’s a Bundesliga vs La Liga showdown as Borussia Mönchengladbach get ready for Villarreal in one of the first Europa League matches. The hosts are on the 5th place in Bundesliga after three rounds, and their only problem might be the scoring of goals which they haven’t been doing. Villarreal have looked shaky in their La Liga start and managed to lose against a stronger Barcelona side without being able to score.

As Borussia M’gladbach returned to training this week, it was with good news in form of all players being available for training. Even Julian Korb and Tony Jantschke joined the session despite picking up injuries in the 4-1 win over Schalke 04. Max Kruse has made a return to the team by providing assists for three of the four goals, and then went on to score one of his own. Even though the two teams have never previously met in European competitions, Borussia M’gladbach has a good track record against Spanish opposition.

Villarreal have not met a worthy opponent on their way to the group stage, and look at Borussia M’gladbach as a means to improve their track record against German teams. Their biggest squad news was the inclusion of Ikechukwu Uche at the expense of Adrian Marin. Garcia Toral has taken responsibility for leaving the young player at home stating that he accused some muscles problems at the end of the match against Granada. This only adds to their absentees list that includes Gio Dos Santos, Jaume Costa, Bojan Jokic and Hernan Perez.

Borussia M’gladbach may have the advantage of playing at home, but predicting a winner with certainty would be difficult, as both teams will want to start on the right foot. Ladbrokes has an outright Borussia M’gladbach win at 2.15, which we are betting 8 units on, while Villarreal got 3.25 odds for a win, and a draw is at 3.40. Other interesting betting markets: both teams to score at 1.80, Borussia M’gladbach for both halves at 3.50, Villareal at 5.50 and Villareal to lead after 75 minutes at 3.20, while Borussia M’gladbach is at 2.20.

Borussia M’gladbach: Team’s Formation