Borussia Dortmund will hope to salvage their Bundesliga season when they host Union Berlin at Signal Iduna Park on Saturday.
Dortmund suffered a humiliating 2-0 defeat against second last VfL Bochum on February 15 in the league and come into the weekend in 11th place with 29 points, just five points and two places ahead of Union Berlin.
Match preview
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BVB conceded twice in a frenzied first half against Bochum, but their second-half display was tame, with the club failing to create a big chance, producing one shot on target and generating just 0.46 xG.
The hosts have now conceded at least two goals in six of their last seven Bundesliga matches, picking the ball out of their own net 16 times in that period.
To his credit, boss Niko Kovac did oversee a 0-0 draw with Sporting Lisbon on Wednesday in the Champions League, winning 3-0 on aggregate against the Portuguese side to advance to the round of 16.
Kovac has only been in charge for four games following the dismissal of Nuri Sahin in January, but he has lost both of his league matches as BVB head coach.
While Dortmund have triumphed in three of their past six in all competitions – losing two and drawing one – they have been defeated in five of their seven most recent Bundesliga outings.
BVB's record at home is poor given they have won just one of their last eight at Signal Iduna Park, losing three and being held to a stalemate in four in that time.
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Union were beaten 2-1 by Borussia Monchengladbach on February 15 and were in truth second best considering their only big chance was produced in the 63rd minute when Andrej Ilic scored a penalty to halve his side's 2-0 deficit.
The visitors have failed to score in four of their past seven games, and their record of 21 goals scored is the joint second-worst return in the top flight.
Die Eisernen emerged triumphant against Dortmund in their first league clash this term, winning 2-1 on October 5 when they limited BVB to just one big chance in what was an excellent defensive performance.
Boss Steffen Baumgart has overseen two losses, two victories and one stalemate in his last five Bundesliga games, helping his team pick up more points than they had in their prior 11.
Union beat Hoffenheim 4-0 in their most recent match away from home on February 8, but they were beaten in each of their previous seven fixtures on the road.
Team News
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Dortmund's only confirmed injury absentee is midfielder Felix Nmecha, who is not likely to return to action until later in March, so expect Marcel Sabitzer and Pascal Gross to play in the middle of the pitch.
Emre Can has featured as a centre-back in all four of Kovac's matches as boss, and he will almost certainly join Nico Schlotterbeck in the backline.
First-choice striker Serhou Guirassy will likely be flanked by wingers Jamie Bynoe-Gittens and Karim Adeyemi.
Meanwhile, Union will be unable to select midfielder Aljoscha Kemlein, so perhaps Janik Haberer and Rani Khedira could start in a double pivot.
Josip Juranovic, Danilho Doekhi, Diogo Leite and Tom Rothe may be trusted in defence considering Oluwaseun Ogbemudia and Robert Skov have been ruled out.
Elsewhere, Baumgart could name a forward line consisting of Woo-Yeong Jeong, Marin Ljubicic, Benedict Hollerbach and Ilic.
Borussia Dortmund possible starting lineup:
Kobel; Ryerson, Can, Schlotterbeck, Svensson; Sabitzer, Gross; Adeyemi, Brandt, Bynoe-Gittens; Guirassy
Union Berlin possible starting lineup:
Ronnow; Juranovic, Doekhi, Leite, Rothe; Haberer, Khedira; Jeong, Ljubicic, Hollerbach; Ilic
We say: Borussia Dortmund 3-1 Union Berlin
Kovac will be desperate to earn his first league win as Dortmund boss and his team could come into the clash confident following their European exploits.
Considering Union have also been poor on the road for some time, it is difficult to see them avoiding defeat at Signal Iduna Park.
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Lewis Nolan
