Borussia Dortmund: somewhere between a title challenge and a false start

The new season began how the previous one finished for Borussia Dortmund: with spectacular victories and plenty of goals from Erling Haaland. In the first round of the DFB Cup at Wehen-Wiesbaden (3-0), the Norwegian scored three times, and in the Bundesliga opener against Eintracht Frankfurt (5-2) he scored two goals – and set up three others. But after the loss against Bayern Munich (1-3 in the Super Cup) and a 1-2 defeat against SC Freiburg in the Bundesliga, the first rumblings of discontent started to come out of Dortmund.

Memories of the past years have been awakened, when outstanding performances have all too often been followed by surprising defeats. Under Marco Rose, who joined BVB from Borussia Mönchengladbach before the start of the season, that was supposed to change. CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke said that third place in the Bundesliga was "not the aspiration". So Rose also knows the importance of the start of the season, which includes the game on Friday evening: "We were better than Freiburg if you look at the statistics, but we still saw things that we need to improve. We all know that it could get uncomfortable if we don't win against Hoffenheim."

Mats Hummels, Mateu Morey, Thomas Meunier, Emre Can, Raphael Guerreiro, Nico Schulz and Dan-Axel Zagadou – the list of players missing for Dortmund has been a long one this season, especially on the defensive end, where numbers are thin on the ground. But the players are slowly starting to return: Meunier, Can and Guerreiro are expected to be available again for BVB against Hoffenheim. A look at the statistics shows that defensive reinforcements are definitely needed: Conceding four goals in the first two Bundesliga matches represents the worst Dortmund start since the 2014/15 season.

However, Dortmund will not necessarily be facing one of their favourite opponents on Friday. BVB have managed to win only one of the past seven Bundesliga matches with TSG (three draws and three defeats). Overall, Dortmund only have a lower victory rate in the league against Bayern Munich (24 percent) and Offenbach Kickers (33 percent) than against Hoffenheim (35 percent).

That is another reason why coach Marco Rose is wary of TSG, who have started the season well, and is hoping for a better performance in Dortmund than in Freiburg: "At Hoffenheim, they have a clear system. They have a lot of quality, especially up front. We have to defend well against them and in turn we want to take advantage of our opportunities – better than we did in Freiburg."

It remains to be seen which face of BVB TSG Hoffenheim will come up against on Friday. But the past and also the first matches for both teams this season have shown one thing: the fans can look forward to an intense and passionate game.

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