This season has been a strange one for Dortmund in the Bundesliga. There are fewer twists and turns at a theme park ride than at BVB during a season.
Lucien Favre’s team have a chance to get a head start on their rivals this week, as they host Koln on Friday night.
Their first Bundesliga game of 2020 was an extraordinary 5-3 win at Augsburg. BVB came back from 3-1 down, with Norwegian starlet Erling Haaland scoring a hat-trick off the bench on his debut within the space of 30 minutes.
The win was much-needed as Dortmund had gone two games without a win in the top-flight. It doesn’t sound like a terrible run. However, if the home side are to have any chance of catching the teams above them then they need to find some sort of consistency for the rest of the season.
A win in this clash would move BVB level on points with reigning champions Bayern Munich, who are currently second place, four adrift of league leaders RB Leipzig.
🗯 #Favre: "@ErlingHaaland macht einen guten Eindruck, er trainiert immer mit Vollgas. Er will immer gewinnen. Wenn er eine Torchance verpasst, ärgert er sich. Es ist super, solche Spieler zu trainieren - er bringt Freude, das ist gut für alle."#BVBKOE pic.twitter.com/phoZuebCaX— Borussia Dortmund (@BVB) January 22, 2020
🗯 #Favre: "@ErlingHaaland macht einen guten Eindruck, er trainiert immer mit Vollgas. Er will immer gewinnen. Wenn er eine Torchance verpasst, ärgert er sich. Es ist super, solche Spieler zu trainieren - er bringt Freude, das ist gut für alle."#BVBKOE pic.twitter.com/phoZuebCaX
Even with their recent inconsistency, it would be hard to write-off Dortmund recording a home win, as they have lost just once in their last 25 outings on home soil in the Bundesliga.
A trip to Signal Iduna Park will be a massive test of Koln’s red-hot form of late. The Billy Goats have recorded four straight wins to move out of the relegation zone and up to 13th place in the table. However, they are certainly not out of the fight for survival, as the visitors are just three points above the relegation play-off berth.
If Koln are to pull off a shock victory then they will need to produce a similar display to the one they produced at Eintracht Frankfurt in their last away match, when they won 4-2. The win was only their second on their travels in the Bundesliga in 14 matches.
Forebet predicts that Dortmund will end Koln’s promising recent run of form in the Bundesliga by recording a win in a high-scoring clash.