Borussia Mönchengladbach travel to Augsburg on Friday night looking for their first win since mid-January.

Heiko Herrlich's Augsburg side are sat very comfortably in mid-table with 26 points, seven above the relegation play-off zone and 13 behind Borussia Dortmund in 6th. A win on Friday night would see Die Fuggerstädter edge even closer to relative safety. However, last weeks defeat to Hertha Berlin, with Dodi Lukebakio scoring an 89th minute winner, will have annoyed Herrlich, as a win in Berlin against a side in the midst of a relegation battle themselves would have lifted Augsburg further away from the drop zone.

As for Marco Rose and Die Fohlen, it was another week and another defeat, which is becoming quite the trend since the announcement of his impending departure to Dortmund at the end of the season. A sole Patrik Schick goal edged a tight affair with Bayer Leverkusen in which Gladbach played alright, but lacked a serious goal threat. The defense has remained relatively solid throughout this wretched run, but it has been in attack where the problems lie.

Team news

FC Augsburg - Iago is the only certain absentee. With the likes of Alfreð Finnbogason, Ruben Vargas, and Jan Morávek all recently returning from injury, it will be interesting to see who starts and who has to settle for a place on the bench.

Borussia Monchengladbach - Christoph Kramer is ruled out and Ramy Bensebaini is a doubt. Other than that, everyone else is fit, with Jonas Hofmann and Lars Stindl both likely to return after a knock and suspension respectively.

Predicted lineups

FC Augsburg - Rafal Gikiewicz; Felix Uduokhai, Jeffrey Gouweleeuw, Reece Oxford; Raphael Framberger, Carlos Gruezo, Tobias Strobl, Robert Gumny; Daniel Caligiuri, László Bénes; Florian Niederlechner

Borussia Monchengladbach - Yann Sommer; Stefan Lainer, Nico Elvedi, Matthias Ginter, Oscar Wendt; Florian Neuhaus, Denis Zakaria; Lars Stindl, Jonas Hofmann, Hannes Wolf; Breel Embolo

Form guide

FC Augsburg - LLDWL - last game - 2-1 (L) vs Hertha Berlin

Borussia Monchengladbach - LLLLL - last game - 1-0 (L) vs Bayer Leverkusen

Ones to watch

FC Augsburg - After being loaned out in January, László Bénes now faces off against his parent club. In the week, Gladbach manager Marco Rose said, "the game time he is currently getting is the best thing for his development." After his sumptuous finish against Hertha, he is likely to get more and more of it. With Augsburg's Heiko Herrlich currently opting for a 3-4-2-1 formation, Bénes has been playing in one of the two roles behind the striker, allowing him to have some creative freedom to help assist Florian Niederlechner.  This is a change to where he lined up at Gladbach, with the Slovakian usually playing slightly deeper for Marco Rose's team. Can Bénes haunt his parent club on Friday night? Only time will tell.

Borussia Monchengladbach - Swedish left back Oscar Wendt is likely to fill in if Ramy Bensebaini is unable to play. Now 35, and having been at the club since 2011, Wendt has been an incredibly loyal servant for Die Fohlen. Although his pace may have taken a slight hit, his defensive nous is still there, and he's more than capable to fill in and do a job for the team. The Swede also has one goal to his name, scoring the second in a 4-1 win over Schalke in November.

Previous meetings

Gladbach have dominated this matchup over recent seasons, winning four of the past seven games. The last time Augsburg beat Die Fohlen was back in December 2016, thanks to a goal from current Eintracht Frankfurt defender Martin Hinteregger.

Earlier this campaign, the reverse fixture ended in a 1-1 draw due to a late Daniel Caligiuri equaliser for Die Fuggerstädter.

Where to watch on TV

The contest will be broadcasted live on BT Sport ESPN at 19:30 BWT in the UK, while those in the United States can see the game live on ESPN+ at 2:30 EST.

What have the managers said ?

FC Augsburg, Heiko Herrlich - "Monchengladbach are a top team currently competing in the Champions League. We want to put in a top performance like we have proven before."

Borussia Mönchengladbach, Marco Rose - "We have room for improvement in attack. We need more dynamism going forward to have more presence in the box. The lads have to earn their luck and dig in more and that's something I have to get out of them."