Dortmund vs. Hoffenheim preview: Who shoots to the top of the table?
Hoffenheim travel to a shaky Dortmund side, who will be looking to prove themselves for the first time this season on Friday night.
Borussia Dortmund
Dortmund have somehow scrapped out three wins from their first four contests and sit one point outside the league leaders. They haven’t been assertive in their victories and their stunning collapse against Werder Bremen still lingers on.
In comes an in-form Hoffenheim side to the Signal Iduna Park where Dortmund must put a stamp on their first emphatic win of the campaign. Anthony Modeste wants to add another goal to his tally in the black and yellow, as BVB have 10 different goal-scorers in competitive play to start the year.
Trainer Edin Terzic stated that, "Hoffenheim got off to a good start. They are very versatile on offense and try to keep the spaces large. But we also showed in Berlin that we can do better than against Bremen and we want to build on that.”
BVB won’t have their complete squad, as injuries are starting to pile up. Youngster Jamie Bynoe-Gittens could draw another start on the offensive end and it's unclear whether Niklas Sule will receive his first Dortmund starting nod.
Team News
Karim Adeyemi and Mahmoud Dahoud are questionable for the contest, but Gio Reyna is likely to be available for a squad selection. Donyell Malen, Sebastien Haller and Mateu Morey are all definitely out on Friday night.
Hoffenheim
New coach Andre Breitenreiter seems to be pulling the right strings with his new group, as Hoffenheim have gathered nine points from their first four games. Another win would mark the club’s best ever start to a Bundesliga season through Matchday 5.
Angelino’s emergence has moved Robert Skov to the right wing, a position in which he has excelled thus far. Ozan Kabak has also really impressed to begin the season, as he joins several ‘Kevins’ at the back (Vogt and Akpoguma).
In his press conference, Breitenreiter said that, "It is down to us how we perform. We have enough quality in our ranks and have often performed well in Dortmund. If everything clicks on the pitch and we get a bit of luck, then we can go home with something."
This will be a difficult task, as Dortmund haven’t lost in 32 straight home Friday night games.
Team News
Ihlas Bebou, Ermin Bicakcic, Benjamin Hübner and Philipp Pentke have been ruled out for the match. Stanley Nsoki is questionable, while Stefan Posch is not in the team after his loan move to Bologna.