Borussia Dortmund return to league action after the international break with a home clash against Borussia Monchengladbach in the Bundesliga on Saturday.
Edin Terzic's side will hope the break can help them reset after a troubling run of form, while the visitors remain marooned in mid-table.
Match preview
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After an excellent start that saw Dortmund keeping pace with Bayer Leverkusen and Bayern Munich at the top, the wheels have fallen off slightly.
Taking just one point from the three league matches before the international break saw them slip a long way off contention for the title already.
That just shows the level the top two have been at though, as Terzic's men are 10 points adrift of Leverkusen but are actually two points better off at this stage compared to the same time last season, when they should have realistically won the title.
After drawing 3-3 with Eintracht Frankfurt, Dortmund then saw their 17-game unbeaten league run come to an end when they were thrashed 4-0 at home by Bayern.
Stuttgart compiled their misery in their last outing, as the in-form Serhou Guirassy condemned BVB to another defeat.
It does not get any easier for Terzic either, as Gladbach can be tricky opponents, and Leverkusen follow next week before RB Leipzig travel to Signal Iduna Park.
Home form has been a reliable source of points, though, as the defeat to Bayern was their first here in 2023 in any competition.
Dortmund quickly made up for that heavy defeat by beating Newcastle United 2-0, which sent them top of the Champions League's group of death, before travelling to AC Milan this week.
After last season's underwhelming 10th-place finish, it has not been an ideal start for Gladbach.
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There has at least been serious improvement recently, after they took just two points from their opening five games.
That was relegation form, but Gladbach have risen to ninth, and are now just six points off the European places heading into the weekend.
Finding their shooting boots has been key, as they have scored at least three goals in three successive matches for the first time under Gerardo Seoane.
Signing off before the break with a very impressive 4-0 win over Wolfsburg continued the promising signs they had shown in previous weeks.
Gladbach were only denied a win at Freiburg thanks to Vincenzo Grifo's injury-time penalty, as Seoane's side threw away a 3-1 lead to only take a point.
Team News
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Dortmund goalkeeper Gregor Kobel is facing a race to be fit again after being sent home early from the Switzerland camp with a muscular injury.
That means Alexander Meyer is likely to come in should Kobel not make it, further weakening the side who will be without Felix Nmecha, who picked up a hip injury in the loss against Stuttgart which ruled him out of the Germany squad.
Elsewhere, Mateu Morey and Julien Duranville are also out for the hosts, but Emre Can could return from a thigh injury.
The injuries have piled up for Gladbach, as they are set to be without goalkeeper Jonas Omlin (shoulder) and defensive pair Ko Itakura (ankle) and Tony Jantschke (hamstring).
Omlin has been out since August, so backup Moritz Nicolas is set to deputise again in goal.
Hannes Wolf is also absent with a knee injury, but that has allowed Rocco Reitz to establish himself in the side, and after scoring in the win over Wolfsburg, he netted twice for Germany's Under-21s against Estonia last week.
There was some wonderful news for the club in midweek too, as Stefan Lainer returned to training after successfully battling cancer over the past few months.
Borussia Dortmund possible starting lineup:
Meyer; Sule, Hummels, Schlotterbeck, Ryerson; Ozcan, Can, Reus; Malen, Fullkrug, Brandt
Borussia Monchengladbach possible starting lineup:
Nicolas; Scally, Elvedi, Wober; Honorat, Reitz, Weigl, Kone, Netz; Cvancara, Plea
We say: Borussia Dortmund 3-1 Borussia Monchengladbach
Gladbach have been very kind opponents for Dortmund in recent years, as the hosts have won the last 10 meetings here, and the Foals have not shown enough this season to suggest they can end that run.
Both sides have shown goalscoring form of late, and goals have been commonplace in this fixture too, as Dortmund have scored 49 in their last 15 home clashes with Gladbach, and the last three head-to-heads have produced 19 goals, with BVB winning the last two here by 6-0 and 5-2 scorelines.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Andrew Delaney
