Bottom club Gladbach, four points from eight games, visit Hamburg on Friday

Last-placed Borussia Mönchengladbach, on four points from eight games, visit 15th-placed Hamburg on Friday (20:30 CET) in the opening game of matchday 9. Hamburg have lost their last two Bundesliga matches, 1-0 at Paderborn and 3-1 at Eintracht Frankfurt, and both teams are missing several players.

What the table says

Hamburg's nine points are matched by five other clubs, from Augsburg in 10th to Paderborn in 14th, but with seven goals scored and 19 conceded, Hamburg's goal difference of -12 is the worst of that group. Only Gladbach, with 22 against, have let in more. Gladbach's four points come from a 3-2 win at Stuttgart on 23 October, after six straight defeats, and a 0-0 home draw with Paderborn on 31 October. Gladbach are still waiting for a home win (one point from four games), while Hamburg have taken six of their nine points at home, from three games.

Recent form

Hamburg beat Stuttgart 1-0 on 17 October, then lost at Paderborn on 24 October and at Frankfurt on 1 November, and were also knocked out of the German Cup by Frankfurt, 3-1. Gladbach are unbeaten in three competitive games: the win at Stuttgart, a 2-0 cup win over Karlsruher SC and the draw with Paderborn. Hamburg coach Merlin Polzin said Gladbach "came out of the busy week well, unlike us". He praised 17-year-old Wael Mohya, who set up Gladbach's Shuto Machino for 2-1 at Stuttgart and scored the third: "It is simply a lot of fun to watch him."

Team news

Hamburg hope to have defenders Nicolás Capaldo and Sebastiaan Bornauw and striker Yussuf Poulsen back. All three have joined parts of training, and Polzin said a return on Friday "could be a pinpoint landing", although he gave no final word. Captain Nicolai Remberg (cruciate ligament), midfielder Bilal Nadir (torn tendon) and playmaker Fábio Vieira (torn muscle fibres) are out.

Gladbach lose goalkeeper Moritz Nicolas to a muscle strain, so 35-year-old Daniel Batz plays again after the cup win and the Paderborn draw. Nicolas Kühn, who has just had a relapse, Hugo Bolin and captain Tim Kleindienst, who has now torn muscle fibres twice this season, are also out. "I am slowly running out of words," coach Alexander Blessin said. Blessin, who coached Hamburg's city rivals St. Pauli last season, says his side is "on a good path" but "still in intensive care".