Two sides still fighting to stay in the race for Europa League qualification meet on Saturday when Borussia Dortmund host Eintracht Frankfurt at Signal Iduna Park.
Both teams currently sit six points outside the top six in the Bundesliga, but with five games remaining in the season, a victory could be important for either side.
Borussia Dortmund
© Getty Images
Despite still having plenty to play for in the closing stages of the season, there is no doubt that most of the news coming out of Dortmund is centred on outgoing manager Jurgen Klopp and his replacement Thomas Tuchel.
The Dortmund boss will end his seven-year spell with the club at the end of the campaign, and as reports continue to link him with a move to the Premier League, the team's schedule appears to have taken a back seat.
Two successive losses in the Bundesliga were followed by a comfortable 3-0 victory over Paderborn last weekend as Dortmund kept alive their slim hopes of playing in the Europa League, but with six points separating them and sixth-placed Augsburg, Klopp's side can't afford to slip up again.
The club's supporters will be forgiven for looking past this weekend's fixture ahead of Tuesday's DFB-Pokal semi-final against Bayern Munich as the pressure on Klopp to finish his reign with a trophy grows.
Victory in that competition may be the priority for some fans as many will suggest that involvement in the Europa League could prevent Tuchel from succeeding in his first season at the club, but Klopp's eagerness to end the season strongly has been clear after flirting with the relegation zone earlier in the campaign.
Recent form: DDWLLW
Recent form (all competitions): LWLWLW
Frankfurt
© Getty Images
Dortmund have moved into the top half of the Bundesliga table with an improved performance in the second half of the season, but Frankfurt have experienced far different fortunes and their form in recent weeks has damaged what should have been considered an impressive campaign.
Thomas Schaaf's side are without a win in their last four games, and have only won once in 12 Bundesliga matches, but they retain slim hopes of playing in the Europa League next season.
Six points is the gap between them and the top six, but their recent performances suggest that earning a top-half finish should be the main priority for a struggling squad.
Losing Alexander Meier to injury for the rest of the season will not boost the confidence in the Frankfurt camp, and it was clear just how much the side missed the Bundesliga's top scorer in an uneventful goalless draw with Borussia Monchengladbach last Friday.
It was the second successive game in which Frankfurt have failed to find the net, and Meier's absence means that the pressure is on Haris Seferovic to find his best form as they look to leapfrog Dortmund over the next few weeks.
Recent form: LWLDLD
Team News
© Getty Images
Klopp was handed a boost on Thursday as both Marco Reus and Lukasz Piszczek returned to training following their recent injury problems, but the duo could be saved for Tuesday's meeting with Bayern.
A throat infection has forced Ilkay Gundogan to train away from his teammates in recent days, and he could be replaced by Sven Bender, who is pushing for a recall after recovering from injury.
Frankfurt will be without both Bastian Oczipka and Anderson Bamba as they serve a one-game suspension due to the yellow cards each defender picked up against Gladbach, and their bans should give opportunities to Constant Djakpa and David Kinsombi.
Borussia Dortmund possible starting lineup:
Weidenfeller, Schmelzer, Hummels, Sokratis, Durm, Ginter, Bender, Blaszczykowski, Kagawa, Mkhitaryan, Aubameyang
Eintracht Frankfurt possible starting lineup:
Trapp, Madlung, Djakpa, Kinsombi, Hasebe, Aigner, Medojevic, Ignjovski, Kittel, Valdez, Seferovic
Head To Head
During Dortmund's troubles in late 2014, Frankfurt managed to pile on the misery with a 2-0 victory in the reverse fixture back in November.
However, Dortmund have dominated the fixture in recent years, and before the loss earlier in the season they managed to win five successive league meetings, scoring 10 goals and conceding just once.
Meier scored a late winner in Frankfurt's last win at Signal Iduna Park - a 3-2 victory in February 2010.
We say: Dortmund 3-1 Frankfurt
Dortmund are still missing key men, but Frankfurt's poor form should boost the home side on Saturday. Frankfurt will miss Meier once again and Dortmund should collect all three points.
No Data Analysis info
