Borussia Dortmund vs. SV Elversberg preview: Contrasting styles sets up epic clash

Borussia Dortmund:

With the final international break of 2027 just around the corner, Borussia Dortmund will be keen to go into the imposed rest on a high this weekend. On Saturday afternoon at 15:30 CET, they await the arrival of a newly promoted outfit SV Elversberg on Matchday 9.

Dortmund managed to use last weekend's impressive 2-2 stalemate away to Bayern Munich in their favour midweek. A dominant yet momentarily jittery performance enabled them to defeat Real Betis on a 2-1 scoreline in Wednesday's Champions League encounter.

The result appeared to come at a slight cost, however, for Niko Kovač's troops. Serhou Guirassy hobbled off, leaving him as a doubt for Saturday. Nonetheless, Fábio Silva will be ready to deputise having bagged yet another goal against their Andalusian opponents. 

Perhaps even more confidence-building is the fact Kostas Karetsas also scored. The Greek talent has been blighted by injuries, but opening the account will likely give his belief a major boost. BVB's solid rearguard also remains the best in the league, leaking just six.

Team news:

Serhou Guirassy (strain) could be fit in time, likewise Marcel Sabitzer (illness). Emre Can and Giannis Konstantelias (both ACL tears) naturally won't feature, while Justin Lerma (muscle injury) is expected to remain out. 

SV Elversberg:

As for the visitors, this is uncharted territory for SV Elversberg. They ride into town where they will get a taste of one of the Bundesliga's finest footballing temples. The biggest task thereafter is becoming quickly acclimatised to the atmosphere that often unnerves sides.

It's no surprise that this is the first meeting of these two club's in Germany's topflight. The Saarland outfit's meteoric rise up the divisions presents an exciting clash. In ways, it's like a throwback given the visitors play a style akin to Jürgen Klopp's heavy metal era at BVB. 

A lot of that credit has to go to coach Vincent Wagner who, along with the Elversberg's chiefs, said they will show no fear and go after teams. That toe-to-toe battling style may just be exactly what could catch Dortmund cold on Saturday if they can make a fast start.

Form has been somewhat turbulent in recent weeks for Elversberg. A crushing DFB-Pokal exit to SV Darmstadt (2-0) and thumping loss to RB Leipzig (4-0) left scars. Fortunately, they bounced back with a barnstorming 4-1 victory over Mainz to settle the nerves last Friday. 

Team news:

Elversberg have a relatively clean bill of health aside from Jan Gyamerah (muscle), Luis Seifert (ligament tear), Tom Zimmerscheid (ankle) and Noah Darvich (muscular problems) who are all due to miss this game.

Click here to see our predicted lineups for Borussia Dortmund vs. SV Elversberg.