Bundesliga returns this Friday as Borussia Dortmund and Hoffenheim faceoff in the fifth round of the 2022/23 season.
Venue: Signal Iduna Park (Dortmund)
Key Statistics
Borussia Dortmund are unbeaten in their last 32 home matches on a Friday night – a run which includes a 3-2 win in last season’s corresponding fixture.
New Dortmund striker Anthony Modeste’s first Dortmund goal was a header. He scored a league-high 10-headed goal last season.
All 10 of the host’s competitive goals before this game have been scored by different players.
The hosts have scored 2+ goals in four of their last five home league games.
Hoffenheim have won just one of their last six away league games (D1, L4).
They have kept two clean sheets from their last two league games.
Andrej Kramaric has scored eight goals across 10 Bundesliga meetings with Dortmund, including all four in an away win on the final day of 2019/20.
Hoffenheim’s coach Andre Breitenreiter has lost all four of his previous away games in Dortmund as a coach.
Head to head
Borussia Dortmund are unbeaten in their last four league games against Hoffenheim (W3, D1).
Latest performances in all competition
Borussia Dortmund: W-L-W-W-D
Hoffenheim: W-W-W-L-W
Borussia Dortmund
Borussia Dortmund will look to continue their hunt for the league title this Friday when they welcome high-flying Hoffenheim to the Signal Iduna Park.
The hosts bounced back from their embarrassing 3-2 loss to Werder Bremen in their third match of the Bundesliga campaign when they beat Hertha Berlin 1-0 last weekend.
The win was their third win of the season and took them two points behind Bayern Munich who dropped points against Borussia Monchengladbach over the weekend.
They can go top of the league temporarily if they can win this game. A win in this game will be Borussia Dortmund’s third consecutive win over Hoffenheim although they will certainly desire a more comfortable result than their two 3-2 wins over Hoffenheim last Bundesliga season.
Possible Borussia Dortmund starting line-up
Gregor Kobel; Marius Wolf, Mats Hummels, Nico Schlotterbeck, Raphael Guerreiro; Jude Bellingham, Salih Ozcan; Marco Reus, jULIAN Brandt, Thorgan Hazard; Anthony Modeste.
Injured: Sebastian Haller, Donyell Malen, Mahmoud Dahoud, Mateu Morey
Doubtful: None
Suspended: None
Hoffenheim
Hoffenheim will look to make it four wins in four games when they travel to Dortmund this Friday.
The visitors opened their league campaign with a disappointing 3-1 loss to Borussia Monchengladbach. But since their opening loss, they have secured three wins and two clean sheets, to move them into the top four places.
Their fans must be delighted to be on par with the likes of Dortmund and Bayern Munich in their most prolific start to a campaign (in terms of points earned) since 2011/12.
Under manager André Breitenreiter, who took FC Zürich to league success in 2021/22, they are dreaming of the best in terms of where they can finish this season.
Before thinking about the end of the season, they will first look to make the most of this game against Dortmund. Victory over the hosts would see Hoffenheim top the Bundesliga standings, albeit perhaps only temporarily.
There is a big chance that they can return to UEFA competition this season after a Europa League appearance in 2020/21. But they need to prove their recent magical 3-0 win at Leverkusen, which Breitenreiter described as “a really good performance to build upon”, was no fluke.
Possible Hoffenheim starting line-up
Oliver Baumann; Ozan Kabak, Kevin Vogt, Kevin Akpoguma; Robert Skov, Angelino, Girscha Proemel, Christoph Baumgartner; Andrej Kramaric, Georginio Rutter.
Injured: Philipp Pentke, Benjamin Hubner, Ihlas Bebou
Doubtful: Ermin Bicakcic
Suspended: None
Prediction
Borussia Dortmund 2-1 Hoffenheim
