Dortmund head to Frankfurt without Guerreiro and Akanji, Hütter hints at lineup shuffle
Dortmund's daily newspaper "Ruhr Nachrichten" report that both Raphaël Guerreiro and Manuel Akanji have remained behind as the team hit the road for Frankfurt.
At the SGE press conference, trainer Adi Hütter hinted at bold lineup changes.
Perhaps the weekend's most intriguing Bundesliga duel gets even more interesting.
Reporters at Dortmund's Ruhr Nachrichten took note of two missing players as they went to see the team off on Friday. The absence of Raphaël Guerreiro (who had been playing left-back) and defender Manuel Akanji speaks volumes. Earlier in the day, trainer Lucien Favre spoke of "several other players struggling with knocks" at the team's presser.
At the SGE press conference, trainer Adi Hütter hinted at bold lineup changes.
Perhaps the weekend's most intriguing Bundesliga duel gets even more interesting.
While it may now be apparent which players Favre was referring to, forecasting Dortmund's XI remains anything but easy. With Dan-Axel Zagadou back, Favre may build a back four using Lukasz Piszczek and Felix Passlack. There is precedence for such a formation. So much depends on whether defenders such as Mats Hummels, Thomas Meunier, or even Emré Can will be able to give it a go.
Favre remained rather tight-lipped about the prospects for a Youssoufa Moukoko start at the press conference, simply praising the player while also noting his age. Over at the Frankfurt conference, Adi Hütter also didn't say much about potential re-integrations for wingers Amin Younes and Aymen Barkok.
Hütter did hint at a different formation other than his preferred 3-5-2, stating that he wanted to infuse his team with "new impulses" and complained that they are "always in the same rut".
"I want to see a team that makes an effort to win the game in the opening minutes and plays with excellent tactical discipline," Hütter said, "We need to do a much, much better job of getting into the game quickly so that we don't always have to make such an effort [to come back]."
Mütter also noted that the return of players such as Younes and Barkok rendered the task of selecting his XI more difficult.
"It's a most unpleasant thing for a coach to have to remove players from the squad who have been performing superbly in training all week," Hütter noted, "today I have to eliminate two players who performed very well in training."
Dortmund beat Frankfurt 4-0 the last time the two clubs met in February. Prior to that, they drew two fixtures.