Bundesliga: Borussia Mönchengladbach v Bayern Munich Odds and Betting Preview

MONCHENGLADBACH, GERMANY - Bayern Munich travel to Mönchengladbach tonight in a bid to avenge a 1-0 defeat in the reverse fixture at the Allianz Arena, knowing that a win would send them six points clear of Dortmund at the top of the Bundesliga, before the champions return to domestic action on Sunday.

It would be some achievement if Borussia Mönchengladbach could win at Borussia-Park and complete an historic double over the Bavarian outfit, but the bookmakers prefer the chances of the visitors.

A home win for Lucien Favre’s side can be backed at 9/2 with bet365, BetVictor and Coral, whereas a draw can be supported at odds of 3/1 with Stan James and William Hill. An away win for Bayern would be a great start to the weekend for favourite-backers, who can get 4/6 with Stan James on the German giants grabbing all three points tonight.

Having only just avoided relegation last season, Mönchengladbach now find themselves in a remarkable situation, opening up the second half of the Bundesliga season with a chance to leap up to second place in the table, just one point off league leaders Bayern, should they win tonight. Favre has been sensible to play down his side’s chances of winning the title, but the players will know that a win here could at the very least send them on their way to a potential Champions League spot for next year. Die Fohlen have been in flying form and have won three of their past four league matches in front of their home fans.

The highly-rated Marco Reus has been leading the attack with 10 goals to his name already this season, although it was Belgian player Igor De Camargo who got the famous winner in Munich last year. They are currently the 33/1 fourth-favourites with Irish bookie Paddy Power to win the Bundesliga title.

Bayern Munich will be looking for revenge tonight, and fans will be delighted that Bastian Schweinsteiger and Arjen Robben return to the squad after absences. Brazilian defender Breno again made the headlines for the wrong reason this week, this time for going to a tattoo parlour on a day where he missed training through illness. Breno was never likely to make the starting XI at Mönchengladbach anyway, but it is another distraction off the pitch for a club that is only three points clear at the top of the table. Nevertheless, they are 2/7 with Ladbrokes to win the league, and those odds could be trimmed further if results go their way this weekend.

In the correct score betting, the favoured outcomes are mostly all wins for the away side, but a 1-1 draw is marginally preferred by bet365 at 13/2, who will refund losing correct score bets if the game finishes in a goal-less draw. 1-0 to Bayern is 7/1 with Stan James, and then at 15/2 with Coral are 2-1 and 2-0 wins for the Bavarians. 3-0 to Bayern is pretty short at 12/1 with Sporting Bet considering the nature of the game, and another 1-0 win for Mönchengladbach can be backed by brave (or foolish depending on your opinion) punters at 16/1 with bet365.

The first goalscorer betting always attracts plenty of interest in the Friday night Bundesliga games, and it will be fascinating to see if either Reus or Gomez can steal the plaudits once again. Mario Gomez is given the best chance of opening the scoring at 10/3 with bet365 and totesport, as he looks to build on his tally of 16 Bundesliga goals this season. Seven of the 16 goals were first goals in games, and of the 16, three were penalties.

Frenchman Franck Ribery has been back in form this season, and he is surely going to be instrumental if Bayern are to make the Champions League Final at the Allianz in May. Ribery is 6/1 with Betfred to score first, just behind Arjen Robben at 5/1. All home fans will be looking towards 15/2 shot Marco Reus to do the business, but another Mönchengladbach player to keep an eye on is Belgian defender Filip Daems, who has three goals to his name this season and looks ‘value’ to net first at 33/1 with Coral.

In other markets, Bayern are 6/4 shots with Stan James to lead the match at both half-time and full-time. Over 2.5 goals can be backed at 7/10 with bet365, and finally Gomez is 11/2 with Sporting Bet to score two or more goals in the game.

Kick-off is at 8.30pm local time on Friday 20 January, which is 7.30pm in the UK. It is live on ESPN HD.

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