Two teams at opposite ends of the Bundesliga table will compete on Sunday when second-placed Borussia Dortmund host Arminia Bielefeld, who sit just above the relegation zone.
The hosts trail Bayern Munich by nine points at the moment, which is a gap they will be hoping to close, meanwhile, the visitors head into this game following consecutive defeats.
Match preview
Borussia Dortmund have struggled recently, having only won twice in their previous six outings in all competitions, which was a period that saw them knocked out of the Europa League as well.
After Rangers were able to progress, the German outfit struggled when playing Augsburg, who also find themselves in a relegation fight, with the two teams sharing the points.
Thorgan Hazard had initially given his team the lead, but that was leveled up by Noah Sarenren Bazee, which was a result that left frustration for Dortmund.
With a nine-point gap between themselves and Bayern Munich at the top of the table, there is pressure on Marco Rose's men to start showcasing some consistency.
However, at home, Borussia Dortmund have been impressive this season, having only lost two of their 12 matches, which is the same number that Arminia have won on the road.
The visitors also faced Augsburg in their most recent outing, and they were defeated 1-0, with Daniel Caligiuri scoring the only goal, which allowed them to leapfrog Frank Kramer's team in the Bundesliga.
This has left Arminia under pressure, with the club just two points above the relegation zone, with a defeat potentially sinking them down to 17th in the table.
The squad have failed to score in the previous two matches, which is something they need to change, in order to get back to winning ways and start progressing up the table.
When they last faced Borussia Dortmund, it was a 3-1 defeat that they suffered, with Emre Can, Mats Hummels and Jude Bellingham all getting on the scoresheet, in what was a difficult day.
However, the squad will have belief that they can cause an upset, especially since the hosts have been in a tricky patch of form lately.
- W
- W
- L
- W
- W
- D
- L
- W
- L
- W
- D
- D
- W
- D
- L
- W
- L
- L
Team News
Erling Braut Haaland was still unavailable in Borussia Dortmund's most recent outing, marking the sixth match in a row that he has missed, but he could be an option this weekend as he continues to fight back to full fitness.
The club will be missing Hummels and Raphael Guerreiro as they both tested positive for COVID-19 this week, which will force at least two changes to the starting lineup.
The visitors have a fit squad after welcoming back Sebastian Vasiliadis after he had been dealing with a foot problem, while Manuel Prietl was also able to return to the squad last Friday, following an illness.
Fabian Klos is likely to lead the line alone once again for Arminia, but Bryan Lasme could be someone that Kramer uses from the start this time around, after being a substitute in the previous match.
Borussia Dortmund possible starting lineup:
Kobel; Can, Schulz, Pongracic; Bellingham, Witsel, Dahoud, Hazard, Wolf; Brandt, Malen
Arminia Bielefeld possible starting lineup:
Ortega; Brunner, Ramos, Nilsson, Andrade; Kunze, Vasiliadis; Wimmer, Castro, Okugawa; Klos
We say: Borussia Dortmund 2-0 Arminia Bielefeld
While Borussia Dortmund have had mixed form in recent matches, they are a dominant team overall, who should have no shortage of belief that they can take all three points at the weekend.
They have a stronger squad on paper, with a vast amount of experience, and that is something that should see them through this particular fixture.
Top tip
body check tags ::
Previews by email
