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"Karetsas hattrick incoming" - Fans react as BVB unveil lineup for Roma friendly

Borussia Dortmund v AS Roma - Pre-Season Friendly
Borussia Dortmund v AS Roma - Pre-Season Friendly | Christof Koepsel/GettyImages

Borussia Dortmund have announced their lineup for today's preseason friendly against AS Roma as several first-team stars make the cut.

Head coach Niko Kovac has named a strong XI with first-choice goalkeeper Gregor Kobel featuring for the first time since returning from World Cup.

Julian Ryerson is also in the starting XI while Serhou Guirassy has been reinstated in the lineup after starting the last two friendlies from the bench.

Summer signing Konstantinos Karetsas gears up for his home debut after an explosive first appearance against Arsenal that resulted in a fabulous strike too.

Austrian midfielder Marcel Sabitzer is among the substitutes once again while Filippo Mane retains his place in defense.

The club also revealed that Waldemar Anton, who missed the Arsenal fixture with workload management, is out again while Maximilian Beier is nursing a knee issue.

Carney Chukwuemeka also has muscular problems and hasn't made it to the matchday squad like the other two.

Today's fixture marks the last friendly for Dortmund, who play at the Signal Iduna Park for the first time since the end of last season.

With the German Supercup against Bayern Munich coming up next Saturday, the BVB would be hoping to get a positive result from today.

Here's how fans reacted to today's lineup:

One X user was surprised to see Felix Nmecha don the captain's armband:

""I swear, Nmecha is captain again—I can't even.""

Another fan made a bold prediction for Konstantinos Karetsas:

""Now that’s an interesting design... (never mind, Karetsas hat-trick incoming)""

This fan has his eyes on one notable substitute:

""Man, I'm really looking forward to Sabitzer coming on.""

Another fan felt the lineup is strong enough to play against Bayern next week:

""You could almost start in the cup with a lineup like that.""

This fan made an observation about the graphics used to announce the lineup:

""Eww, what kind of graphics are those?""

With Vofadone the new sponsor, this fan was puzzled to see someone else's name:

""Bwin gesponsert???""

This fan left a cheerful reaction for today's skipper, Nmecha:

""Captain ❤✝️""

This fan had a question regarding Anton's condition:

""How much longer do they intend to talk about "load management" in Anton's case? He was left out of the squad against Arsenal for the same reasons, too.""

There was a query surrounding a youth player too:

""It would also be good if you could tell us what's going on with Dos Santos.""
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