Fansided

Dortmund looking to build on opening day victory with trip to Hannover

By Matt Addison

BREMEN, GERMANY - APRIL 29: Marco Reus of Dortmund gestures after the Bundesliga match between SV Werder Bremen and Borussia Dortmund at Weserstadion on April 29, 2018 in Bremen, Germany. (Photo by TF-Images/Getty Images)
BREMEN, GERMANY - APRIL 29: Marco Reus of Dortmund gestures after the Bundesliga match between SV Werder Bremen and Borussia Dortmund at Weserstadion on April 29, 2018 in Bremen, Germany. (Photo by TF-Images/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

Borussia Dortmund head into the weekend at the top of the Bundesliga having beaten RB Leipzig 4-1 last Sunday.

Early Bundesliga leaders Borussia Dortmund head to Hannover on Friday night as they look to maintain their position at the top of the table.

While Dortmund got off to a flying start under new boss Lucien Favre, Hannover could only draw with Werder Bremen despite taking the lead with less than a quarter of an hour to go in the match.

Bayern Munich are heavy favourites to win the Bundesliga, as they almost always are, but Dortmund have high hopes that they can go close and challenge them. If that is to happen, it is imperative that they pick up all three points in matches such as these.

The German top flight as a whole would benefit from Dortmund being competitive this season, with Bayern winning the league at a canter last year, although Hannover will not care about that in their pursuit of the points on Friday.

Key battles

Dortmund are likely to be unchanged from the team that demolished Leipzig, meaning a midfield three of Mahmoud Dahoud, Axel Witsel and Thomas Delaney.

They will look to dominate the Hannover midfield containing Pirmin Schwegler and Walace, with Norwegian Iver Fossum also potentially coming, perhaps from the bench.

Marco Reus began the season with a goal and Oliver Sorg at full-back for Hannover will need to be at his best to keep the German wide man quiet.

Christian Pulisic on the opposite wing is no slouch either and he will cause Matthias Ostrzolek problems on Hannover’s left side.

Manuel Akanji and Abdou Diallo were the central defenders for Dortmund against Leipzig, and they will start again. Hannover forwards Ihlas Bebou and Niclas Fullkrug will try and test them when they have possession.

Next. 5 Bundesliga players to keep an eye on this season. dark

Previous meetings

Last season’s meeting between these two teams at the HDI-Arena in Hannover saw the hosts win by four goals to two. Dan-Axel Zagadou was sent off for Dortmund on the hour mark with the scores level at 2-2, before Felix Klaus and Ihlas Bebou sent the points Hannover’s way.

Dortmund won the reverse fixture 1-0 thanks to a goal from on-loan forward Michy Batshuayi, set up by Andre Schurrle. Neither of those two players remain at the German side this season having exited during the summer.

In the season before last, the same scorelines were on show, but with Dortmund winning both matches — 4-2 away from home and 1-0 in front of the Yellow Wall.

When Hannover are hosting, there tends to be goals, with 29 goals shared between the two teams in the last seven matches. Onlookers will be hoping for more of the same this time around.

Home/Soccer