Borussia Monchengladbach vs Celtic Predictions & Betting Tips, Match Previews

Borussia Monchengladbach’s injury troubles are hitting them hard at the moment. They have a number of key players sidelined, including three main attackers in Josip Drmic, Raffael, and Thorgan Hazard. These injury problems have caused a decrease in their scoring ability for obvious reasons, and the usually high scoring Monchengladbach have only managed four goals in their last six outings in all competitions.

Despite this, the Germans still managed a 2-0 victory over Celtic away from home a few weeks ago, with Lars Stindl and Andre Hahn teaming up well up front to grab a goal and assist apiece. This makes them the top scorers available for Monchengladbach with three apiece in all competitions, with Hahn having two in the Champions League. With him leading the line and Celtic struggling at the back in Europe, backing Hahn to get on the scoresheet could prove a good move at odds of 6/4.

Borussia Monchengladbach are low on confidence at the moment though. Their goalless draw at home to Eintracht Frankfurt on Friday made it just one win from their last four home games in all competitions and they sit all the way down in 11th position in the Bundesliga. Defensively they have proved solid at home though, with four clean sheets in their last five, and they managed to limit Barcelona to a 2-1 win over them in September.

Celtic have dramatically improved at the back recently as well. They began the season with a flurry of goals at both ends of the pitch, but recently Brendan Rodgers has increased defensive organisation. Their 1-0 win at Aberdeen was a typical result from this new found efficient Celtic side, and it made it five wins from their last six games in all competitions.

All five of these victories have seen them keep a clean sheet, but their single failure to do so was in that home defeat to Monchengladbach. They failed to score in that match as well, so confidence won’t be particularly high going forward on Tuesday. Celtic have failed to score in five of their last six away days in the Champions League, including against part-timers Lincoln Red Imps at the start of this season.

Considering both sides are struggling going forward at the moment, it seems ludicrous that this is predicted to be a high scoring match by the bookies. Four of Monchengladbach’s last five home games have seen fewer than three goals, as have five of Celtic’s last six home and away. The hosts know that a top two finish is all but unattainable considering they will have to outpoint Barcelona or Manchester City, and as such they would be happy just staying ahead of Celtic to finish 3rd in the group.

This all has the markings of a low scoring match, especially with so many of Monchengladbach’s attackers out injured and their recent defensive record at home. Backing Under 2.5 Goals at 13/10 looks very good value indeed, and I’m going for that and a 1-0 win for the hosts at 15/2.