Borussia Dortmund will expect to return to winning ways when they host Heidenheim in the Bundesliga on Friday evening.
The visitors have lost both of their opening games of the league campaign, having been promoted to Germany’s top flight for the first time in their history.
Dortmund, of course, are seasoned veterans at the top end of the Bundesliga, having finished inside the Champions League qualification positions in each of the last eight seasons.
BVB came desperately close to breaking Bayern Munich’s stranglehold on the division last time out, when they headed into the final day of the season on top of the table, requiring all three points at home against Mainz 05 to edge out their great rivals. However, they dropped points after a pulsating 2-2 draw, with Jamal Musiala’s 89th-minute strike away to FC Koln handing Bayern their 11th consecutive title.
After beating Koln themselves on the opening weekend of the season, Dortmund disappointingly dropped points away to VfL Bochum on Saturday, with Donyell Malen cancelling out Kevin Stoger’s early effort. Neither team managed to find a crucial winner despite peppering each other’s goal with plenty of efforts.
Dortmund’s home form has been very impressive since Edin Terzic returned for his second spell in charge of the club last summer, and they will be hoping to score at least a few goals on their way to a comfortable victory under the Westfalenstadion’s floodlights on Friday evening.
Heidenheim, meanwhile, were extremely unfortunate not to claim their first ever positive result in the Bundesliga when hosting Hoffenheim on Saturday, with Andrej Kramaric snatching victory for the visitors by converting a penalty in the last minute of normal time.
The Bundesliga new boys, who were promoted in the most dramatic circumstances when scoring two injury-time goals on the final day of last season to leapfrog Hamburger SV into the automatic promotion spots, had led their opponents 2-0 with Jan-Niklas Beste and Marvin Pieringer scoring either side of half time.
However, Maximilian Beier and Pavel Kaderabek scored within three minutes of each other to level the proceedings, before Croatia forward Kramaric broke the hosts’ hearts after a lengthy VAR review eventually awarded the penalty which he converted.
Head coach Frank Schmidt will not be panicking just yet, especially as his side enjoyed more possession against Wolfsburg in their opening game, before registering 20 shots during their defeat to Hoffenheim. Clearly, though, they will be up against it to avoid heading into the international break without a point when they arrive in Dortmund on Friday.
Felix Nmecha and Mats Hummels were both substituted during Dortmund’s draw away to Bochum with suspected hip and back issues respectively, with neither player likely to be risked for this match.
They join Julian Ryerson, Thomas Meunier, Julien Duranville and Giovanni Reyna on the sidelines, but Karim Adeyemi and Niklas Sule can provide plenty of quality if they are called upon as replacements.
Heidenheim, meanwhile, will travel without Marnon Busch and Elidon Qenaj due to hip and knee injuries respectively, but otherwise Schmidt appears to have a full squad to select from.
The 49-year-old could bring central midfielder Kevin Sessa into his team in place of one of his two strikers, with Pieringer potentially making way despite scoring his first league goal for the club against Hoffenheim.
Borussia Dortmund possible starting lineup:
Kobel; Wolf, Sule, Schlotterbeck, Bensebaini; Sabitzer, Can; Malen, Brandt, Adeyemi; Haller
Heidenheim possible starting lineup:
Muller; Traore, Mainka, Siersleben, Fohrenbach; Dinkci, Maloney, Sessa, Thomalla, Beste; Kleindienst
We say: Borussia Dortmund 3-0 Heidenheim
Heidenheim could be facing Dortmund at a bad time here after the hosts dropped points in their last match, already putting them two points behind Bayern in their quest to win their first title since 2012.
The visitors have not looked completely out of their depth despite competing at this level for the first time in the club’s history, but that could change to an extent on Friday, with BVB likely to run out comfortable winners in the end.
