Borussia Dortmund v Hoffenheim week 15 preview

The collective eyes of a soccer nation turn to Hoffenheim’s Wirsol Rhein-Neckar-Arena for a top half of the table clash between the hosts and visiting Borussia Dortmund.

Hoffenheim has, of course, been a real surprise story in the early portion of the Bundesliga season coming into the fifteenth match week still anxiously awaiting their first loss with a record of six wins and eight draws. Hoffenheim is keeping fairly good company in the undefeated club with only Real Madrid remaining in the top European leagues. They have used a very balanced attack with seven players entering match week fifteen having scored more than one goal, with Sandro Wagner pacing the club with seven league goals. The defending has also been very stout for Hoffenheim as they currently rank tied for 5th in goals allowed receiving quality contributions each week from top choice goalkeeper Oliver Baumann.

The quality Hoffenheim form has resulted in a top four spot if the season would end today, but much could change as Borussia Dortmund have an opportunity to leapfrog Hoffenheim with an away win. Below the top two in the league, Bayern Munich and RB Leipzig, there is a jumble of clubs fighting to keep up with BVB and Hoffenheim joined by Hertha Berlin and Eintracht Frankfurt. The winner of the Friday night match will head into the weekend in third position thanks to playing their match first.

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A victory over an overachieving Hoffenheim club away from home is no sure thing for Borussia Dortmund however as their away form has been absolutely wretched as of late including escaping FC Koln with a narrow draw.

BVB has had difficulty breaking down clubs that when at home, play altogether too many men behind the ball and concede possession. That is what happened against Koln and only by getting a late smash and grab goal where the good guys able to capture an important point. It will be interesting to see early on how Hoffenheim play it, will they sit back with all ten men defending or will it be a more open match (which would play into BVB’s favor).

Another key factor to watch is the mounting injury list that Borussia Dortmund seem to be compiling. I believe this is an extensive list of the injury picture, but if one was missed forgive me, it was chaos.

GK: Bürki (Inj)

DF: Subotic (Inj), Sokratis (Inj), Piszczek (Inj), Bartra (Inj), Guerreiro (Inj),

MF:Sahin (Inj), Rode (Inj), Castro (Inj), Durm (Inj), Kagawa (Dbt)

Head man Thomas Tuchel may have to get creative to even field a back line tomorrow so Hoffenheim might be tempted into committing men forward early on in the hopes of grabbing a quick goal. Even with the regulars in defending has been a problem area at times for Borussia Dortmund and I would like to see some younger players step into a role.

Despite the injuries in the attack, there are no shortage of options as Tuchel will have a good many players at his disposal. Look for Pierre Emerick Aubameyang to form the most exciting pairing in the Bundesliga once again with Marco Reus and yet another sighting of the increadible youth prospects ready to do a job in Christian Pulisic, Emre Mor or Ousmane Dembélé.

The match kicks off at 2:30 pm ET in the United States and is the night match over in Europe. Enjoy!

Next: Christian Pulisic isnt going anywhere

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