„Nothing to lose“ in Gladbach meeting

Markus Gisdol on…

…the opposition:

Gladbach play precise football at a high tempo. In my opinion, they are one of the best sides in the league. They have the second best defensive record in the division, which is a sign of a good team. They are an inspiration for many clubs, including ourselves. They were almost relegated a few years ago but a number of clever decisions have seen them improve rapidly. They've always believed in the project even though things have been tricky at times.

…personnel:

We have a few more problems than usual this week. Jens Grahl picked up knocks to his hip and back on Wednesday and we're not too sure how bad they are yet. Kevin Volland hasn't trained with the team yet since his calf injury. Tobias Strobl and Eugen Polanski sat out training on Wednesday with illness. Kai Herdling hasn't trained too much as he still has knee problems. Pirmin Schwegler is struggling with pain in his lower back. We'll see if they're available for Saturday later in the week. Steven Zuber is starting to return to training but it's not clear if he'll be fit. Sejad Salihovic trained twice with the Bosnia squad but didn't play. He's someone else that we'll make a late decision on. Jin-Su Kim trained again on Wednesday. He should be fine.

…the current situation:

It looks like we'll have a sell-out crowd on Saturday and there'll certainly be a great atmosphere. We have nothing to lose and know we'll have a chance if we put in a good performance against Gladbach.

The coming weeks are going to be good as we have a number of games against fantastic teams. We've spoken about that and we're looking forward to it. We'll give it our all and we'll need to maintain our good form to achieve our goals. Qualification for the Europa League would be special but also a bit dangerous. Obviously, we'd like to reach it though. It would be sensational.

The upcoming game:

Borussia are one of TSG's favourite opponents. The teams have met 13 times in the Bundesliga to date and TSG have won six of those encounters. There have been four draws, which means the Foals have only come out on top three times. The last meeting at the WIRSOL Rhein-Neckar-Arena saw Markus Gisdol's side win 2-1 thanks to goals from Anthony Modeste and Kevin Volland.

The opponents:

Lucien Favre's side have only lost one league game in 2015 – a 1-0 defeat against Schalke. They have won seven times and drawn once, with the most impressive result coming last time out when they won 2-0 against Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena. They are third in the table, have picked up the highest amount of points in 2015 together with Wolfsburg and are in the quarterfinals of the DFB Cup, so it will be anything but easy this weekend.

Key battles:

Gladbach sat back and hit Bayern on the counter on the last matchday but they normally do things differently. Favre's side have the second-highest pass-success rate and have played the second-most passes – in short, possession is key to their game. It's going to come down to how well TSG maintain possession and how they force mistakes that can lead to breakaways. Hoffenheim are one of the best counterattacking sides in the league. Gisdol's side have scored nine goals on the break so far this term. Can TSG ‘do a Gladbach' this weekend and land a big win?

Match facts and statistics »