Borussia Dortmund aim to steady the ship for a comfortable top-four finish when they welcome Hamburg to the Signal Iduna Park this weekend.
Dortmund’s Bundesliga title hopes were practically reduced to ashes when Bayern Munich beat them 3-2 in this season’s final Der Klassiker. However, Niko Kovač’s men rebounded with two victories from their last two matches. Karim Adeyemi and Luca Reggiani scored in their previous outing against Augsburg to grab home the three points, going clear by eight points from third-placed Hoffenheim.
Advertisement
Daniel Svensson was passed fit for the match after sustaining a minor knock last weekend. Emre Can is on the sidelines as he is recovering from a long-term injury. Reggiani, Waldemar Anton and Nico Schlotterbeck are set to start in a three-man defence. Adeyemi is set to partner with Maximilian Beier behind Serhou Guirassy in attack.
As for Hamburg, they arrive at this match following a 1-1 stalemate with Köln in their last match. Fábio Vieira opened the scoring for the hosts before Said El Mala netted the equaliser just on the verge of half-time. Merlin Polzin’s men have already held Die Borussen to a draw earlier in their home fixture this season, and they have a relatively positive away record in recent games. The visitors are in line to grab some points from this match, and Dortmund need to be alert to avoid any slip-ups.
Nicolas Capaldo is set to miss the game with abdominal issues. Luka Vušković will feature in a back-three with Warmed Omari and Jordan Torunarigha. Vieira is expected to be playing an attacking midfield role behind Damion Downs and Ransford Königsdörffer.
Predicted line-ups for the match between Borussia Dortmund and Hamburg
Borussia Dortmund:
Kobel – Reggiani, Anton, N. Schlotterbeck – Ryerson, F. Nmecha, Bellingham, Svensson – Adeyemi, Beier – Guirassy.
Hamburg:
Heuer Fernandes – Omari, L. Vušković , Torunarigha – Mikelbrencis, Lokonga, Remberg, Muheim – Vieira – Downs, Königsdörffer.
GGFN | Trambak Bhattacherjee
Read the full article here