Borussia Dortmund visit Hoffenheim in the Bundesliga on Saturday as they aim to get up and running again following an unexpected setback on the last matchday.
The BVB succumbed to a 1-0 home loss to Bayer Leverkusen as Ramy Bensebaini's mistake gifted Robert Andrich the winner.
It was only their third defeat of the season but Die Borussen were left 12 points behind leaders Bayern Munich, who will seal the title today if Dortmund drop points once more.
Hoffenheim come into the fixture on a low ebb, going their last four Bundesliga matches without a win. It has taken a toll on their Champions League qualification with Die Kraichgauer dropping to sixth and now trailing the top-four by at least five points.
In Dortmund, the Sinsheim outfit face another tough challenge as they haven't beaten them on home turf since December 2019.
As the Bundesliga giants reconvene their rivalry today, here's a glance at the top five scorers in the fixture:
Mario Gotze (Dortmund) - 4 goals
Hoffenheim have been one of Mario Gotze's favorite teams, having struck seven goals against the side with Borussia Dortmund, Bayern Munich and Eintracht Frankfurt.
Four of them came in Dortmund colors. During his first spell at the club, he netted just once in four games but improved his average the second term as Gotze scored thrice more in three games.
Vedad Ibisevic (Hoffenheim) - 4 goals
Former Bosnian sniper Ibisevic spent almost his entire club career in the Bundesliga across six different teams, bagging a handful of goals. At Hoffenheim, he struck four goals in four games against Dortmund.
Ibisevic struck a brace in a 4-1 league victory back in 2008 before netting once each in the 2010-11 and 2011-12 seasons too, his goal being the match-winner on the last instance.
Marco Reus (Dortmund) - 7 goals
Hoffenheim rank among the top 10 teams that Marco Reus have scored against, netting eight times in total. Barring his first one, which came during his Borussia Monchengladbach days, the rest came in Dortmund colors.
Of these, three of his goals were match-winners, each being 1-0 wins for Dortmund, including in the second round of the DFB-Pokal Cup in November 2023. Besides, Reus also assisted six times against Hoffenheim, which is a further testament to how much he loved playing against them.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Dortmund) - 7 goals
Aubameyang proved to be a nightmare for Dortmund. The Gabonese hitman saved his best for this fixture and scored many goals during his time with the Signal Iduna Park outfit.
After scoring in his first appearance against the side, Aubameyang went the next three without scoring - only to then score in the next six outings consecutively.
Andrej Kramaric (Hoffenheim) - 9 goals
Besides Robert Lewandowski, another player that always had Dortmund's number was Andrej Kramaric, with the Croatian bagging nine goals against them. He's only struck more against Hertha Berlin (12) and Gladbach (10).
The main highlight of his rivalry with the side came on the final matchday of the 2019-20 season at the Westfalonstadion as Kramaric netted all four goals of their stunning 4-0 demolition job of Dortmund.
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