Borussia Mönchengladbach vs. TSG Hoffenheim preview: Visitors need big win to realise UCL dream

Jens Castrop is suspended after his red card in Augsburg, while Nico Elvedi is back from suspension. Tim Kleindienst, who only has two cameo appearances this term after his breakthrough season, could play some minutes after recovering from a serious knee injury.

TSG Hoffenheim

After their worst spell of the season, Christian Ilzer’s men collected 11 points from the last five games. However, that might not be enough for a Champions League qualification if Stuttgart win away at Eintracht Frankfurt.

Hoffenheim conceded five goals each to FC Bayern and RB Leipzig, but those are the only defeats they suffered on their travels in 2026. They tied Borussia Dortmund for second in the away standings with 29 points from 16 games.

Team News

Ilzer is expected to repeat the lineup from the narrow win against ten-man Werder Bremen. There are no new injury concerns in Hoffenheim’s camp as they hope to qualify for the Champions League proper for only the second time in the club’s history. Mathematically, Hoffenheim could still usurp Stuttgart even if the latter win on Saturday, as long as they manage to reverse the five-goal gap in goal difference.

Head-to-Head

It was Hoffenheim who scored five when Polanski returned to PreZero Arena, where he had spent the majority of his playing career, back in January. Including two injury-time strikes by the hat-trick hero Andrej Kramarić, they scored four first-half goals on their way to a 5-1 victory.

The last four head-to-head games between the sides produced 24 goals for an average of 6 per game. Gladbach are unbeaten at home against Hoffenheim since Kramarić, who found the net ten times in this fixture, inspired a late comeback in 2020.

Predicted Lineups

Gladbach: Nicolas; Scally, Elvedi ©, Diks, Ullrich; Engelhardt; Sander, Reyna; Bolin, Mohya; Tabaković

Hoffenheim: Baumann ©; Coufal, Kabak, Hajdari, Bernardo; Avdullahu; Kramarić, Burger; Lemperle, Asllani, Touré