Borussia Dortmund face arguably their biggest match of the Bundesliga season, as they travel to play Hoffenheim on Friday night.
Following their 1-1 draw at Koln on the weekend, Dortmund find themselves 8 points adrift of Bayern Munich and RB Leipzig, who are level on points at the top of the table. Surely a defeat at Hoffenheim plus a victory for the top two, will see Borussia Dortmund too far adrift, even at this stage of the season, to be considered as title contenders?
Dortmund’s form in the Bundesliga has been up and down all season. Just when you think they are about to string a run of wins together, they are halted by a series of draws or a defeat. Their last four matches highlight the story of their season to date perfectly. The first was a 1-0 victory over defending champions Bayern Munich. Having previously defeated Hamburg 5-2 away from home, this was the result which was going to see Dortmund close in on the top of the table.
However, it was quickly followed by a 2-1 defeat at Eintracht Frankfurt, which put a downer on the success of the week before. Dortmund bounced back once again, this time with a 4-1 win over Borussia Monchengladbach at home and things looked as though they were on the up for Dortmund fans. The positivity did not last for long, as they were held to a 1-1 draw in Koln on Saturday, making it one win from their last three Bundesliga matches.
On Friday night, Dortmund have a very tough task on their hands, as they take on the only team to remain unbeaten in the Bundesliga this season, Hoffenheim. Julian Nagelsmann’s team can move into the top three with a victory at the WIRSOL Rhein-Neckar-Arena and there is every chance they will get a good result. Interestingly, in their previous home Bundesliga match, Hoffenheim defeated Koln 4-0, the team who held Dortmund to a draw last weekend. This season, Hoffenheim have won four and draw three of their home Bundesliga matches and have drawn two more matches than they have won in total. In their previous five Bundesliga games, Hoffenheim have drawn four and won one, so although they are unbeaten, they have not been winning games of late, which will give Dortmund hope they can take something from the match.
You must go back to May 2013 to find the last time Hoffenheim managed to defeat Dortmund, a match in which the Dortmund goalkeeper, Roman Weidenfeller was dismissed. The seven Bundesliga matches since then, have seen three wins for Dortmund and four draws. In only one of those matches did both teams fail to score, which was a 1-0 to Dortmund in 2014.
Therefore, it shouldn’t come as a surprise to see this match finish in a draw, considering the form of both teams and the recent history between the two. It should be a highly entertaining game, with both teams finding the back of net. Hoffenheim would probably be happy to take a point and continue their unbeaten run whereas for Dortmund, the pressure is on and they really need to leave with maximum points.