Borussia Dortmund host promoted side Paderborn in the Bundesliga on Saturday, aiming to extend their winning run in all competitions to five games.
The BVB's emphatic spell right now includes wins in both their Bundesliga matches so far, having beaten Hamburger SV 2-0 followed by an epic 3-2 comeback win over Hoffenheim.
Paderborn are back in the Bundesliga after a gap of six years, sealing promotion via the playoffs following a 2-1 defeat of Wolfsburg at home in May.
As the sides are set to renew hostilities for the first time since 2020, here are three things to look forward to:
1) The Serhou-Silva strike partnership
Borussia Dortmund's talismanic forwards Serhou Guirassy and Fabio Silva are cooking right now. Both are in a rich vein of form and firing on all cylinders, accounting for seven goals between and two assists for each other too.
There's been talks of playing them together in a new 3-5-2 or 3-4-1-2 system which head coach Niko Kovac could employ this season a few times. It will be interesting to see if he expriments with it today itself against a promoted side that's struggling to find their feet.
2) A clean sheet is imperative
After back-to-back, nervy 3-2 wins, Borussia Dortmund could finally have a chance at a clean sheet and it must beir objective coming into tonight's fixture too. That's because Paderborn haven't scored in either of their Bundesliga matches this season, drawing a blank in the 0-0 draw with Mainz and then again in the 1-0 loss to Freiburg.
However, it would be remiss of me not to mention how many attempts they've had. The North Rhine-Westphalia outfit has mustered 23 shots across those two games, implying significant attacking intent and capability. What's perhaps lacking is the finishing; the cutting edge to make those chances count. If BVB continue to appear shaky at the back, they could be Paderborn's first victims this season.
3) Return of Shlotty and Bense
Speaking of BVB's defense, it's set to receive a massive boost with the return of Nico Schlotterbeck and Ramy Bensebaini, two of their defensive cornerstones during the 2025-26 season.
Schlotterbeck was missing since his ankle injury at the World Cup with Germany whereas Bensebaini sustained a rib injury in their Supercup clash with Bayern Munich last month.
Kovac revealed in his last press conference that both have recovered from their respective injuries and might as well play against Paderborn today.
Should both of them start, it would be the first time this season that we'll get to see the defensive duo in action together and the BVB would be better for it.
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