Bottom four teams Hamburger SV and Borussia Mönchengladbach will commence matchday 9 in Bundesliga ahead of the second international break of the season.
Following three straight wins, Merlin Polzin's side climbed out of the bottom half of the standings, but recent results brought back the issues that was visible in the first weeks of the season. After a late defeat in Paderborn that was inflicted by their loanee Rayan Philippe, HSV lost to Eintracht Frankfurt twice by the same scoreline (3-1).
The Bundesliga encounter was closer than the cup duel before Germany international Younes Ebnoutalib sealed the three points for the hosts twenty minutes from time. They will now hope to not go into the international break with four defeats on the trot.
Team News
There is a possibility for the returns of Nicolas Copaldo and Yussuf Poulsen, but midfielders Fabio Vieira, Bilal Nadir and Nicolai Remberg are definitely out of the game due to injuries. Terem Moffi will most likely keep his place up front after finding the net in both games against Frankfurt.
In contrast, Gladbach's last three games were huge boost for fellow former Bundesliga champions. They advanced to the DFB-Pokal Round of 16 despite playing the majority of the game against Karlsruhe with ten players, and registered their first four points of the Bundesliga season against Stuttgart and Paderborn.
The Foals avoided becoming the first team to lose each of their first eight league games a fortnight ago before settling for a goalless draw with the newly-promoted Paderborn in a game the two goalkeepers were the best players. If Union Berlin or Schalke lose their respective games, Alexander Blessin's side have the chance to depart the bottom of the league with three points on Friday.
Team News
Gladbach's long list of injuries is showing no signs of easing up as Nicolas-Gerrit Kuhn suffered yet another setback. Goalkeeper Moritz Nicolas, defensive leader Kevin Diks and the captain Tim Kleindienst could all return to the matchday squad on Friday. Earlier next week, 17-year-old Wael Mohya will join Germany's squad for the first time after his surprising call-up.
Head-to-head
As fate has it, HSV's first game back in the Bundesliga was against Gladbach nearly eight years after their first-ever relegation confirmed with the same fixture. However, both meetings last season ended goalless.
