Three Borussia Dortmund players to watch out for against VfB Stuttgart
Dortmund is entering the final few games of their season and things are not going to get easy for them from here on.
After being humiliated by Bayern Munich in the last matchday, the Black and Yellow will try to get back to winning ways.
In essence, this should not be a difficult fixture. Stuttgart is a low scoring side which should help BVB to establish the rules of play. However, former Bayern man Mario Gomez could prove to be a thorn in the plan. The German striker has been on a bit of a purple patch lately and will hope to keep it going against Dortmund.
With that said, here are three BVB players to keep an eye on in this enticing fixture!
Manuel Akanji
The center-back arrived in January and has played fairly regularly after some horrible performances by Sokratis. The Greek was Dortmund’s defensive linchpin before his dramatic drop in form allowed Akanji to take over.
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The Swiss defender has made 7 appearances in the Bundesliga since his arrival from Basel and continues to play an integral role in the heart of BVB’s defense. His partnership with Omer Toprak is nothing to be proud of yet, but there is still time for Akanji to settle down.
The center-back will have the difficult job of containing Mario Gomez and it will not be easy. Gomez is capable of hold-up play and receiving balls as a target man. Keeping him quiet for 90 minutes will be a difficult task for the young defender.
Gomez has the experience to draw fouls and the Swiss man cannot be suckered into untimely tackles. All in all, Akanji will have his work cut out in this game.
Mahmoud Dahoud
Dahoud has finally started to come into his own, despite a horrible showing against Bayern. There are some good takeaways from his recent performances and it will be best if Dahoud can focus on improving that side of his game.
Dahoud has become a mainstay in midfield in recent weeks and continues to gain the coach’s confidence. His ability to control the midfield and his team are exceptional and hopefully, he can keep that going.
Michy Batshuayi
The Belgian had a horrible showing against Bayern. But at this point, it can be established that the whole team had a downer and one cannot solely put the blame on one player.
Michy is a goal-scorer. Plain and simple. Against Stuttgart, he will be expected to take the few chances that he gets and make the most of them. His conversion rate, in general, is spectacular and most of his shots have been on target which is a good thing. However, his link-up play can leave a lot to the imagination.
Next: Three talking points ahead of Borussia Dortmund vs VFB Stuttgart
When asked to face off against Stuttgart, Batshuayi should focus on getting into good positions instead of making runs behind the defense (which will be expected of Marco Reus and Pulisic who have greater speed). If he can get into good positions, the supply will be in abundance.