Hamburger SV vs. Borussia Dortmund preview: BVB looking for positive response

Borussia Dortmund will look to bounce back from their heavy Champions League defeat to Manchester City when they take on Hamburger SV in Saturday’s Bundesliga contest.

Hamburg

Hamburg are sitting in 13th spot after winning two, drawing two and losing five of their nine league matches. Unfortunately for HSV, they have failed to add to their points tally since running out 4-0 winners against Mainz 05 at the start of October. Merlin Polzin’s side lost narrowly to RB Leipzig and Wolfsburg, before they returned to winning ways in their second-round clash against Heidenheim in the DFB-Pokal.

However, they were unable to build upon that result in last Sunday’s away meeting with Köln. Jean-Luc Dompe found the net just after the hour mark to halve Köln’s lead, only for Hamburg’s hopes of a positive result to be effectively quashed by red cards to Immanuel Pherai and Fábio Vieira. With a two-man advantage, Köln went on to score two more goals in stoppage time to condemn HSV to a heavy 4-1 defeat. 

They will be hoping to produce a positive response in their first meeting with Dortmund since February 2018. However, those hopes will be tempered by the fact that they have lost each of their last five meetings with die Schwarzgelben. The home side’s last head-to-head success took place in November 2015, when they claimed a 3-1 victory over a Dortmund side managed by current England boss Thomas Tuchel.

Team News

Hamburg remain without defender Warmed Omari, while Pherai and Vieira are suspended after being sent off last weekend. In positive news, Nicolas Capaldo should be fit to play a role after missing the previous two matches through injury.

Predicted lineup: Fernandes; Capaldo, Vušković, Elfadli; Gocholeishvili, Lokonga, Remberg, Muheim; Philippe, Dompé, Poulsen

Borussia Dortmund

Dortmund head into the weekend in third place in the Bundesliga table, having recorded six wins, two draws and one defeat in their nine league outings. Niko Kovač’s side are two points adrift of second-placed RB Leipzig, while there is a sizeable seven-point gap to leaders Bayern Munich. 

Die Schwarzgelben put together a promising run of form following their 2-1 defeat in Der Klassiker on October 18. They saw off FC Copenhagen and Köln in the Champions League and Bundesliga respectively, before they pulled off an extra-time victory against Eintracht Frankfurt in the Pokal. 

They may have enjoyed another victorious outing in their most recent league game against Augsburg, but they were brought down to earth in Wednesday’s European meeting with Manchester City. Waldemar Anton’s 72nd-minute effort proved to be mere consolation in a heavy 4-1 defeat at the Etihad Stadium, leaving Dortmund in 14th spot with four games to go in the Champions League league phase.

After suffering their first European defeat of the season, die Schwarzgelben will be keen to quickly return to winning ways in their final outing before the international break. They will be confident of keeping things much tighter than their midweek trip to England, having conceded just six goals in the league this season. 

Boasting the second-best defensive record in the top flight, Dortmund should be able to nullify a struggling Hamburg attack, which has netted just eight times in the Bundesliga – the joint lowest total with Heidenheim and St. Pauli. 

Team News

The visitors are likely to be without the services of Niklas Süle, Julian Brandt and Julien Duranville due to injury.

Predicted lineup: Kobel; Anton, Schlotterbeck, Bensebaini; Ryerson, Groß, Bellingham, Svensson; Adeyemi, Beier, Guirassy