Borussia Dortmund will aim to notch a sixth successive Bundesliga victory when they welcome relegation-threatened Hertha Berlin to Signal Iduna Park on Sunday afternoon.
Hertha ended a four-game losing run with a much-needed win against Borussia Monchengladbach last weekend, but they still occupy the dreaded releg ation playoff spot.
Borussia Dortmund extended their impressive post-World Cup hot streak with a 1-0 victory over Chelsea in the Champions League on Wednesday, securing a vital first-leg advantage ahead of the reverse fixture next month.
Edin Terzic‘s side has now claimed seven straight wins in all competitions since the restart, with a DFB-Pokal triumph over VfL Bochum accompanying five consecutive Bundesliga victories.
After clinching a dramatic 4-3 win against Augsburg, Dortmund dispatched Mainz 05 and Bayer Leverkusen before thrashing SC Freiburg 5-1, with a 2-0 victory over Werder Bremen coming last weekend.
When you look at the bigger picture, BVB has won eight of their previous 10 league games, meaning that Terzic’s men find themselves just three points shy of first-placed Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga table.
It is also worth noting that Dortmund has registered a solitary draw in 20 league outings this season, recording 13 wins and six losses along the way, with their solitary draw coming against Bayern back in October.
By contrast, Hertha Berlin suffered four straight defeats after the World Cup break, losing 3-1 to Bochum before failing to score a single goal across defeats to Wolfsburg, Union Berlin, and Eintracht Frankfurt.
Following a run of eight losses in 10 matches, Sandro Schwarz looked destined to lose his job after the damaging 3-0 defeat to Frankfurt, but the 44-year-old managed to inspire a marked improvement last time out.
When Nico Elvedi put Borussia Monchengladbach ahead on 17 minutes, it looked as though Hertha would suffer another loss, but Schwarz’s men came from behind to seal a hugely impressive 4-1 victory on home soil.
Jessica Ngankam equalized midway through the first half before Marton Dardai gave Hertha the lead after the break, with stoppage-time goals from Derry Scherhant and Dodi Lukebakio completing the rout late on.
Still, there is no hiding the fact that Die Alte Dame has managed to win just one of their nine away league games this season, and they head into Sunday’s clash on a run of five successive away defeats.
Borussia Dortmund looks set to be without Youssoufa Moukoko for up to six weeks, as the 18-year-old forward – who has six goals and six assists this season – has sustained ankle ligament damage.
Moukoko joins Julien Duranville on Dortmund’s injury list, although Marius Wolf and Sebastien Haller are back in action, with the latter scoring an emotional comeback goal in the recent 5-1 win against Freiburg.
After scoring against Chelsea in midweek, Karim Adeyemi is expected to support Haller in attack on Sunday, while Jude Bellingham will look to enhance his tally of 10 goals and six assists.
As for Hertha Berlin, Peter Pekarik and Wilfried Kanga look set to miss the trip to Dortmund having not featured in the previous two matches.
On top of that, Die Alte Dame will be without the injured trio of Agustin Rogel, Chidera Ejuke and Stevan Jovetic this weekend, while Kevin Prince Boateng is not likely to feature against his former club.
Dodi Lukebakio could start in attack for the visitors on Sunday after coming off the bench to score his ninth goal of the season in last weekend’s thrashing of Gladbach.
Borussia Dortmund possible starting lineup:
Kobel; Wolf, Sule, Schlotterbeck, Guerreiro; Can; Brendt, Bellingham, Ozcan, Adeyemi; Haller
Hertha Berlin possible starting lineup:
Christensen; Uremovic, Kempf, Dardai; Richter, Tousart, Cigerci, Serdar, Plattenhardt; Lukebakio, Ngankam
Although Hertha Berlin crushed Gladbach last time out, Schwarz’s side will struggle to continue their mini-revival against in-form Borussia Dortmund.
After all, BVB have won six of their last seven Bundesliga home games, meaning that Terzic’s men should extend their winning streak to eight games without any real problems.
