Borussia Dortmund travel to Nuernberg for a Monday night match-up. Lucien Favre’s team is winless in its last three matches in all competitions.
Dortmund have drawn two straight Bundesliga games while losing in midweek to Tottenham in the Champions League. Favre’s team dominated in midweek before conceding three second half goals. Dortmund’s defence has been guilty of second half let offs in the last week. In their match against Hoffenheim at the weekend, Dortmund allowed three goals in the final 15 minutes.
Nuernberg failed to beat Hannover in a massive six-point match last weekend. The club took the measure of sacking head coach Michael Kollner and sporting director Andreas Bornemann on Tuesday. Nuernberg are on a 15-match winless run in the Bundesliga and they are looking for an injection of life. Nuernberg haven’t won since September 29th. Things are looking dire at Der Club.
Favre’s team needs to get back to winning ways as Bayern Munich are hot on their heels in the race for the Bundesliga title. Luckily, Nuernberg are bottom of the Bundesliga table. Nuernberg have collected just 12 points from 63 points possible. Of the team’s 12 points, 10 of them have come while playing at home.
Nürnberg have won just two times in their last 24 games against Dortmund. The yellow and black have claimed victory on 14 occasions. In their last 12 meetings, Nuernberg and Dortmund have combined to score over 2.0 goals in each game. Their meeting earlier this term saw Dortmund put seven goals past Nuernberg.
Dortmund are in an injury crisis as several key members missed their midweek Champions League match. Captain Marco Reus, Paco Alcacer, and Julian Weigl all missed the game through injury or illness. Weigl could return for Dortmund as he missed out due to the flu. Alcacer had shoulder inflammation that kept him out. He is still a doubt as is Reus.
Favre’s team has the Bundesliga’s best attack (54 goals scored) while Nuernberg have the league’s worst (17 goals scored). Der Club have also given up the second most goals with 46. Dortmund have allowed just 23, the third fewest in the league. Despite missing two of their most important attacking players, Dortmund will defeat Nuernberg on Monday night and keep their lead over Bayern. Dortmund have scored plenty of goals against Der Club in recent meetings. They will put two goals past Nuernberg while holding them to a clean sheet.