Preview: Brentford vs Borussia Monchengladbach - prediction, team news, lineups

In each side's final pre-season game before their 2025-26 campaigns get underway, Brentford will host Borussia Monchengladbach at the Gtech Community Stadium on Friday.

The Bees' new-look team managed to beat Queens Park Rangers 1-0 on August 2 and will face Nottingham Forest in their first Premier League game on August 17, while Die Fohlen beat Valencia 2-0 on Saturday and will be hoping for another season of improvement.

Match preview

Brentford enjoyed a phenomenal 2024-25 season given they finished 10th with 56 points - their second-highest total in their top-flight history - and were in contention for a European spot for much of the campaign.

Despite their positive showings in the league, fans are worried about 2025-26 given boss Thomas Frank departed to Tottenham Hotspur earlier in the summer, with Keith Andrews earning a promotion from the club's coaching staff into the vacant managerial role.

The Londoners were one of the division's best offensive side's last term, finding the back of the net 66 times, a figure was the Premier League's joint fifth-best return.

However, the loss of Bryan Mbeumo could significantly impact their attack, while the future of Yoane Wissa is still uncertain, and losing both forwards would leave sizeable holes up front.

At the other end of the pitch, Brentford were the eighth-worst defensive side having conceded on 57 occasions in the 2024-25 Premier League season, though they have only conceded once in their two pre-season friendlies.

Brentford have won one and drawn one of their friendlies - scoring two goals - but while they won two of their final three home matches last campaign, they drew three and lost six of their prior nine outings at the Gtech.

As for the visitors, their 2024-25 Bundesliga campaign represented a significant improvement upon their displays in the prior season given their points tally of 45 was 11 more than they totalled in 2023-24.

Boss Gerardo Seoane's side only finished seven points from the division's sixth-placed Conference League qualification spot, and their total of 55 goals scored was more than three of the five teams above them.

However, they were the joint worst defensive team in the top 14 having conceded 57 goals, though that figure was still 10 fewer than they conceded in 2023-24.

Borussia Monchengladbach have not been particularly active in the transfer window, with the club spending just over £11.5m this summer on four players.

Seoane has overseen a strong pre-season so far considering his team have played six friendlies and have won five times, scoring at least twice in each of those victories.

Die Fohlen ended 2024-25 winless in their final four matches on the road, losing their most recent three by a cumulative score of 8-5.

Brentford pre-season form:

Borussia Monchengladbach pre-season form:

Team News

Brentford will hope that creator Mikkel Damsgaard can form a productive relationship with centre-forward Igor Thiago.

Fabio Carvalho and Keane Lewis-Potter were stationed in wide roles last time out, and they may play ahead of midfielders Yehor Yarmolyuk and Mathias Jensen.

Former Liverpool goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher has claimed the starting spot between the posts, and he will likely start behind Sepp van den Berg and Nathan Collins.

Meanwhile, Borussia Monchengladbach's new striker Shuto Machino - signed from Holstein Kiel for nearly £7m - will lead the line.

The striker could star in an attack also consisting of Robin Hack, Franck Honorat and Kevin Stoger.

Elsewhere, the most likely midfield candidates to shield centre-backs Nico Elvedi and Marvin Friedrich are Rocco Reitz and Philipp Sander.

Brentford possible starting lineup:

Kelleher; Kayode, Van den Berg, Collins, Henry; Carvalho, Yarmolyuk, Jensen, Lewis-Potter; Damsgaard; Thiago

Borussia Monchengladbach possible starting lineup:

Nicolas; Scally, Elvedi, Friedrich, Netz; Reitz, Sander; Honorat, Stoger, Hack; Machino

We say: Brentford 3-2 Borussia Monchengladbach

Both sides experienced difficulties in defence last season, but they were also strong offensively, so expect Friday's clash to be an entertaining affair.

With the Bees playing at home, they should be seen as favourites, though both clubs could make a number of changes in the second half, making the result hard to predict.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.