Borussia Dortmund team news: Sebastian Kehl optimistic Raphael Guerreiro and Manuel Akanji can face Zenit

Borussia Dortmund face a trip to Russia for their final Champions League group game, and question marks remain about the injury status of several players ahead of the contest.

Borussia Dortmund have already qualified for the UEFA Champions League round of 16, but need to match Lazio’s result on Tuesday to ensure that they finish top in Group F. The Black and Yellows hold a one point lead over the Italian side going into the final round of fixtures.

Borussia Dortmund will make the trip to Russia on Monday ahead of Tuesday’s game against Zenit St. Petersburg. And it remains to be seen whether the players who missed the 1-1 draw against Eintracht Frankfurt will be on the plane.

Sebastian Kehl said on Saturday that he is optimistic of having Raphael Guerreiro and Manuel Akanji back in the squad for the game against Zenit. Guerreiro, who scored against Lazio last week, is dealing with muscle problems. While Akanji has a knee injury. Kicker say that Akanji should be fit for the game against Zenit, while there is hope that Guerreiro will be too.

According to Ruhr Nachrichten, the chances of Thomas Delaney being fit in time to face Zenit appear slim. The Dane received treatment on the back problems he is currently dealing with on Sunday. The newspaper adds that Erling Haaland and Thomas Meunier will not be available until January.

But there is better news, as Mats Hummels, Emre Can and Dan-Axel Zagadou all came through unscathed after playing 90 minutes against Eintracht Frankfurt. Hummels and Can were injury doubts going into the game, while Zagadou hadn’t started a game since March.

Borussia Dortmund still have five games to go before they get a short Christmas break, and four of those fixtures are away from home.