Having struggled earlier in the season, the Rajasthan Royals seem to have struck a purple patch in recent weeks. In a close game against CSK last time out, Steve Smith inspired his boys to a 7-wicket win to climb up the ladder to sixth-place. Admittedly RR are winning games at the moment, but we cannot help but notice the minor issues in their top-order. In the previous fixture, they had been on the back-foot before gaining control through Jos Buttler and Steve Smiths combined efforts to score a massive 96 runs between themselves. Frightening with his pace, Jofra Archer often leaves opposition sides chasing shadows, and will be hopeful of delivering a superb performance in this upcoming contest. RR will need spinners Shreyas Gopal and Rahul Tewatia to continue wowing fans with the ball in crucial overs.
Borussia Monchengladbach has made it to the group stage of the Champions League only for the third time in history. The last time the Germans played at this level was in the 2015/2016 season. In both cases, Borussia could not advance further, finishing fourth and third. Last season in the Bundesliga, the “foals” finished fourth, so they got again a chance to prove themselves at the highest level. In the championship, the “Prussians” started unsuccessfully. Marco Rosa’s wards have earned only five points in four matches, so they are in 11th place. In these meetings, Borussia drew with Union Berlin (1:1) and Wolfsburg (1:1), defeated Cologne (3:1) and lost to Borussia Dortmund (0:3). Note that last season the Prussians played in the Europa League. Here the Germans earned eight points, but still did not qualify for the 1/16 of the tournament. Borussia lost the first two places to Roma and Istanbul. Andreas Poulsen, Denis Zakaria and Valentino Lazaro were injured at Borussia. The participation of Mamadou Ducourt is questionable.
