We have reached the final weekend of the season in the German Bundesliga with some European and relegation places still to be decided.
The match between Borussia Dortmund and Darmstadt will take place on the 18th of May at Signal Iduna Park. The hosts begin this final round in 5th place on 60 points while the visitors are bottom of the table on 17 points.
Borussia Dortmund come into the game on the back of a 3-0 loss at Mainz in the Bundesliga last weekend.
Desolat.#sv98 | #Lilien | #SVDTSG pic.twitter.com/kQgZSvoCXj— SV Darmstadt 98 (@sv98) May 12, 2024
Desolat.#sv98 | #Lilien | #SVDTSG pic.twitter.com/kQgZSvoCXj
Dortmund fielded a much changed team from their Champions League match in midweek and paid the price.
Mainz opened the scoring in the 12th minute and doubled their advantage 7 minutes later. Mainz scored their third goal in the 22nd minute and Dortmund failed to break them down in the time that remained.
The defeat at Mainz was the first defeat for Dortmund in 4 fixtures in all competitions.
There were 1-0 victories home and away over Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League plus a 5-1 thrashing of Augsburg at home in the Bundesliga.
Stats show Dortmund have not lost a match in 44 of their last 52 matches in the Bundesliga.
They are rarely behind at half time when playing at home and have been at least level going in at the interval in their last 15 home games in all competitions.
Dortmund have scored 3 or more goals in 4 of their 7 most recent Bundesliga fixtures on home soil.
Darmstadt make the trip to Signal Iduna Park having suffered a poor 6-0 home defeat at the hands of Hoffenheim in the Bundesliga last weekend.
Hoffenheim were 2-0 up after only 6 minutes and scored 3 more goals before half-time. Into the second half and Hoffenheim scored their sixth goal in the 61st minute.
The defeat against Hoffenheim means Darmstadt have lost 5 of their last 6 Bundesliga fixtures.
The additional losses have come at Mainz and Wolfsburg away plus Freiburg and Heidenheim at home.
Darmstadt did manage one positive result and that was a 2-0 win at Cologne.
Trends show Darmstadt have won just 1 of their last 26 matches in all competitions.
They have won just 1 of their last 12 away Bundesliga games and have conceded 2 or more goals in 4 of their 5 most recent Bundesliga fixtures on the road.
Looking ahead to the team news and Dortmund may field their best XI as they build towards the Champions League final.
However, Ramy Bensebaini is injured and there are doubts over the fitness of Sebastien Haller and Julien Duranville.
Darmstadt travel without suspended defender Jannik Müller. Their long list of injured players includes Clemens Riedel, Fabian Holland, Braydon Manu, and Fraser Hornby.
There are doubts over the fitness of Fabian Nürnberger, Sebastian Polter, Bartol Franjic, and Matthias Bader.
Dortmund could be forgiven for taking their foot off the gas with the Champions League final to come but in truth, they should still have too much for Darmstadt.
We predict Dortmund will cruise to victory in this game, scoring at least 3 goals and keeping a clean sheet in the process.