Holstein Kiel vs Borussia Dortmund preview: Hosts looking to ambush an ailing and depleted BVB

Borussia Dortmund

The ball gets rolling on Matchday 17 of the Bundesliga with this enticing fixture as Borussia Dortmund go in search of their first Rückrunde victory to kick start their 2025. 

Reflecting on their narrow 3-2 loss at the hands of reigning German champions Bayer Leverkusen, head coach Nuri Şahin stated a “cold start” left them with a mountain to climb as Die Werkself led 3-1 inside 19 minutes against a largely second-string BVB rearguard.

An array of players including Emre Can, Waldemar Anton, Rami Bensebaini, Alexander Meyer, Fillipo Mané and Nico Schlotterbeck are battling to be fit in time for the Tuesday evening clash. 

“They are feeling better, but we don’t know yet if they can play”, remarked Şahin regarding the aforementioned list of absentees. A decision will be made later this afternoon after Die Schwarzgelben are put through their paces in training. 

Adding further woe to the situation, BVB's 36-year-old head coach highlighted “a big question mark” over Karim Adeyemi while Jamie Gittens has problems of his own after last Friday's exploits. 

Pascal Groß’ red card against Wolfsburg before the winter break rules him out with a 2-game suspension, while Niklas Süle’s syndesmotic ligament tear will see him miss out too. Donyell Malen may be left out of the squad altogether as the 25-year-old nears a transfer to Aston Villa. 

Team News

Once again, Dortmund may be forced to put square pegs in round holes on Tuesday if persisting injuries and flu continue to ravage the camp. 

Gregor Kobel will bring a measure of calm, but Felix Nmecha may be forced to play at centre-half alongside the inexperienced Yannick Lührs from the BVB U23 setup. Yan Couto will resume right-back duties with Julian Ryerson on the left. 

Sahin’s favoured 4-1-4-1 formation continues with Marcel Sabitzer in the sole six role. Julien Duranville is expected to start on the right alongside Maximilian Beier, Julian Brandt and Jamie Gittens on the left flank. 

Serhou Guirassy leads the line on his own and will be keen to add to his 7 goals and 2 assists in 13 Bundesliga outings thus far. 

Holstein Kiel

Marcel Rapp’s men were dealt a similar fate to their visitors to start 2025 as a daunting trip to Breisgau ended in a 3-2 defeat to SC Freiburg. 

Die Störche appeared to be staring down the barrel of another heavy defeat as they trailed 3-0 after the 74th-minute until a late Phil Harres’ brace added some respect to the scoreline. In truth, Kiel even had opportunities to snatch a point at the death. 

Despite sitting in seventeenth just 2 points clear of rock-bottom VfL Bochum, Kiel’s fighting spirit of late will give them great confidence ahead of the BVB clash. Greatly evidenced by their concession of 41 goals despite a markedly better 28.6xGC in total - an unfortunate return.

With six of their eight points claimed on home soil, Kiel fans will be hoping they can spring a shock against the injury-hit giants from the Rührpott. No player currently presents a bigger threat than Harres himself, with 6 goals in 9 appearances this campaign.

On the injury front, Marvin Schulz (adductor) and the experienced Steven Skrzybski (Achilles tendon problems) are set to miss out completely. Colin Kleine-Bekel appears to be lacking fitness after a 13-match layoff, while Patrick Erras suffered concussion back in early December with a return date unknown. 

Team News

Marcel Rapp is expected to continue with his trusted 3-4-2-1 formation, with a three-man backline of Timo Becker, David Zec and Marco Komenda. 

Moving into the middle third, Finn Porath and Dominik Javorcek should play either side of Nicolai Remberg and 34-year-old veteran Lewis Holtby. 

The double ten roles are expected to be fulfilled by Andu Kelati and Shuto Machino, while top-scorer Phil Harres will look to capitalise on a makeshift BVB defence.