Finding form

Three games, three defeats. For VfB Stuttgart and Borussia Mönchengladbach, the start of the season was miserable. While there's no tangible pressure on their respective head coaches, finding a route out of the mire now will avoid any anxiety towards the end of the campaign.

Both sides know exactly about those pressures. Lucien Favre's fantastic work helped Gladbach avoid relegation through a playoff in 2011. Stuttgart, for the past three seasons, has languished in the bottom half of the table, just about managing to stay out of relegation trouble. Neither wants a repeat of this - and the performances wouldn't suggest either club is in danger.

The two sides lie at the bottom of the league behind another pack of clubs without a win, but whose raison d'etre is to avoid the drop to the second-tier. Champions League-competing Borussia Mönchengladbach attempts to steer its season back on track against Hamburg on Friday, while Stuttgart are in action at Hertha Berlin.

Favre still finding right balance

Gladbach's troubles were predictable. The club, which has punched above its weight under Favre, lost a number of key players this summer. Christoph Kramer ended a two-year association with the club, rejoining parent club Bayer Leverkusen. His departure alone would be enough to shake things up, but that was compounded by Max Kruse's move to Wolfsburg and Martin Stranzl's injury last season.

Indeed, the Austrian defender will be present in the team's backline for the first time this season when Hamburg are the visitors. Stranzl, 35, missed the first three games with injury following a superb campaign last term, helping Gladbach to a Champions League place. "He's in the squad and will probably play," the Swiss coach said. "He is really important for the team. He conducts and talks a lot to the other players. He's important for us on the pitch and in the dressing room."

Stranzl battled on for 90 minutes in midweek as the Foals beat Sion 2-1 in a friendly encounter. The defender feels the 'self-confidence' of the team is back with new arrival Nico Schulz impressing at left full-back. Captain Tony Jantschke slotted into the midfield, the versatile defender a potential option to replace the suspended Granit Xhaka in midfield. Patrick Herrmann was injured in Switzerland, however, and will be out for several weeks.

The positive news which Favre will carry from midweek is that he has options to experiment with: Andre Hahn has returned to the fold and could play on the wing or offer power and pace in attack. Josip Drmic returns to the club after scoring two goals for Switzerland. "Two goals for Gladbach's moral," read one German newspaper.

The 4-0 defeat at Borussia Dortmund kick-started the recent downward spiral, but despite losing, there were causes for hope against Mainz and Werder Bremen. Results for the Foals are important, not just for the table, but ahead of the tantalizing test to come in the UEFA Champions League, where Gladbach will face Sevilla, Juventus and Manchester City. Hamburg, however, comes first: "It'll be hard work, as always, but we want to win," said Favre.

Zorniger: 'We'll make changes'

While Stuttgart don't have Champions League football to look forward to next week, they are just as desperate to overturn a wretched period of form. The Swabians needed the stewardship of Huub Stevens to bail them out at the bottom of the league in the previous two seasons, so struggle will be at the forefront of recent memories.

The arrival of Alexander Zorniger was intended to herald a new dynasty at the Mercedes-Benz Arena. The 47-year-old comes with a decent pedigree from working under Ralf Rangnick at RB Leipzig, bringing a fresh brand of attacking football. With the options at his disposal, the pair should be a solid fit.

But the strike rate this season in front of goal has been disappointing. The Swabians' chance-conversation-rate is struggling at 7.3% from 55 shots on goal this season - only Bayern Munich has had more shots on goal than Zorniger's men. Yet the new system has come at a price, the five-time German champions losing 4-0 at home to Frankfurt last week following defeats at Hamburg (2-3) and against Cologne (1-3).

The newly-appointed Stuttgart coach argues that just 2.5 goals conceded have to do with the team's overall system. "The other seven not," he told reporters. Bosnian defender Toni Sunjic will make his debut following his transfer from Kuban Krasnodar. "We rely on players of his quality," the coach added. Zorniger wants to pair the 26-year-old with prodigious, young center-back Timo Baumgartl who trained on Thursday and "will likely be in the squad for the trip to Berlin."

But mistakes have blighted Stuttgart's first three games. Such an attack-focused formation with fast transitions isn't necessarily the problem. Zorniger's players are fragile when dealing with counterattacks from the opposition and make rash decisions, best exemplified by Przemysław Tytoń. The Polish keeper - who has conceded two penalties this season - is suspended and will be replaced by Odisseas Vlachodimos, a 21-year-old academy graduate who made his league debut two weeks ago.

Stuttgart's record in Berlin has been patchy, the Berliners winning 23 of 60 meetings between the pair. With Vedad Ibisevic in blue-and-white following his move this week, many narratives will already be written when the teams battle it out on Saturday afternoon.

Bundesliga Matchday Four fixtures:

Borussia Mönchengladbach vs. Hamburg (Friday)

Bayern Munich vs. FC Augsburg (Saturday)

Hannover vs. Borussia Dortmund

Hertha Berlin vs. Stuttgart

Leverkusen vs. Darmstadt

Ingolstadt vs. Wolfsburg

Eintracht Frankfurt vs. Cologne

Hoffenheim vs. Werder Bremen (Sunday)

Schalke vs. Mainz