The Bundesliga returned from a winter break last weekend and now the second half of the season is fully under way as teams get to grips with competitive action once more. On Saturday afternoon, the current leaders, Borussia Dortmund, welcome Hannover to Signal Iduna Park.
Borussia Dortmund sit top of the Bundesliga on 45 points, 6 points clear of second place Bayern Munich. The defending champions will be waiting to pounce on any slip-up from Dortmund. Hannover find themselves at the wrong end of the table and have just 11 points to their name. Even a win may not be enough to take them out of the relegation zone.
Borussia Dortmund commenced the second half of the Bundesliga season with a good 1-0 win at RB Leipzig. This was labelled as a tough test for the title challengers but they managed to shut out the hosts to take the points.
That win means Borussia Dortmund have recovered from their shock defeat at Fortuna Dusseldorf by winning both their league games since. Lucien Favre’s team are strong at home and trends show they have won each of their last four home Bundesliga matches and have won fourteen of their last eighteen at home in all competitions.
Borussia Dortmund are undefeated in their last thirteen home games in all competitions and have seen both teams score in eight of their last ten Bundesliga matches at Signal Iduna Park.
Hannover suffered a 1-0 home defeat on the resumption of the Bundesliga last weekend, succumbing to a 32nd minute striker by Werder Bremen. That result means Hannover have failed to win any of their last seven Bundesliga games and have won just one of their last eleven in the German top-flight.
Trends show away form has been terrible and Hannover have won only one of their previous twenty-five away Bundesliga games. During those twenty-five league matches, Hannover have failed to keep a clean sheet but they have managed to score themselves in each of the last six on the road.
Hannover have picked up a point in each of their last two away Bundesliga games but this is going to be a tough test, similar to their game at Borussia Monchengladbach which they lost 4-1.
Looking ahead to the team news and Borussia Dortmund will be hoping to have Marco Reus available having missed the previous game with a knee ligament injury. Omer Toprak and Dan-Axel Zagadou are also close to a recovery but Manuel Akanji is out until mid-February with a groin injury.
Hannover have an extensive list of injured players. Ihlas Bebou, Linton Maina, Timo Hubers and Niclas Fullkrug are all long term absentees. Takuma Asano, Edgar Prib and Noah-Joel Sarenren-Bazee could be available but Genki Haraguchi is away on international duty.
Even if Marco Reus fails to make it, Borussia Dortmund should still have more than enough to win this game. Hannover may get a goal but it will be no more than a consolation effort as the home team take maximum points.