Hoffenheim vs Borussia Dortmund

Fourth placed meets second placed in the Bundesliga table with Hoffenheim playing host to Borussia Dortmund at the PreZero Arena.

Both sides will be looking to bounce back from poor exists of the DFB-Pokal in midweek in an encounter that promises to be thoroughly entertaining for the neutral.

Team News

Hoffenheim

• Hoffenheim’s absentees list remains lengthy ahead of the welcoming of Dortmund with as many as eight players set to miss out.
• Robert Skov, Ermin Bicakcic, Mijat Gacinovic and Pavel Kaderabek are all sidelined through injury while Marco John and Florian Grillitsch sit out as well due to coronavirus positive test.
• Kasim Adams is suffering from a bout of flu. He is therefore not expected to feature whilst Diadie Samassekou remains on international duty at the AFCON.

Borussia Dortmund

• Emre Can and Dahoud are likely to sit out once more due to groin and back injuries respectively. This means Axel Witsel will again join Jude Bellingham and Julian Brandt in the centre of midfield.
• Spare goalkeepers Roman Burki and Luca Unbehaun are ruled out for another couple of weeks. The pair are joined by the defensive duo of Marcel Schmelzer and Mateu Morey as well as Giovanni Reyna.
• Meunier started again in midweek despite doubts over the ankle injury he picked up in the win against Freiburg whilst Youssoufa Moukoko returned from injury with a late cameo from the bench.
• However, an unchanged side could be named by Rose despite the disappointing cup exit. This means Donyell Malen will likely remain on the bench after he failed to impress in his appearance on Tuesday.

Prediction Analysis

The clash looks to be an entertaining one. Both sides are successful in front of goal in recent weeks whilst remaining leaky at the other end of the pitch.

Were this tie being played at Signal Iduna Park, we would predict a Dortmund win. But with the side often slipping up on their travels as well as Hoffenheim being an impressive outfit, we are going with a thrilling draw.

Our Prediction is Hoffenheim 2-2 Borussia Dortmund.

Possible Lineup

Hoffenheim: Baumann, Posch, Vogt, Richards, Akpoguma, Baumgartner, Geiger, Raum, Kramaric, Bebou, Rutter.

Borussia Dortmund: Kobel, Meunier, Akanji, Hummels, Guerreiro, Brandt, Witsel, Bellingham, Reus, Haaland, Hazard.