Borussia Dortmund will be expecting to win a fifth straight match in the Bundesliga when they host Werder Bremen on Friday evening.
The visitors have lost five of their opening seven matches, and they will head into the weekend's action sitting only two points above the relegation zone.
Match preview
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Despite carelessly dropping points in successive draws against potential relegation candidates VfL Bochum and Heidenheim earlier in the campaign, Dortmund have bounced back strongly to edge themselves back into the title picture.
Successive wins against Freiburg, Wolfsburg, Hoffenheim and Union Berlin have seen Edin Terzic's side move level on points with Bayern Munich, whom they endured a titanic title tussle with last season, with Bayer Leverkusen and Stuttgart surprisingly leading the way ahead of them.
In the Champions League, results have not been so positive, with BVB losing 2-0 away to Paris Saint-Germain in their opening match before claiming a 0-0 draw at home against AC Milan. As such, a defeat away to Newcastle United next Wednesday could leave their prospects of progressing from the "Group of Death" looking extremely slim.
It is still incredibly early days in both competitions, of course, and there is little doubt that Dortmund have enjoyed a much gentler start to the season in terms of their domestic fixture list. That looks set to continue at Westfalenstadion on Friday, with fixtures against the three sides currently above them plus RB Leipzig all to come within their succeeding six matches.
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Werder Bremen, meanwhile, have began this season by and large as they finished the previous one: sluggishly. Ole Werner's side took off like a train following their promotion from the second tier in 2022, taking 21 points from their opening 13 games to allay any fears of relegation, before losing 15 of their final 21 league matches.
That ratio has roughly continued into their second season back in the top flight, including heavy 4-2 defeats away to newly-promoted Heidenheim and SV Darmstadt 98, which does not exactly bode well for their hopes of remaining in the Bundesliga once again.
Despite losing their star striker Niclas Fullkrug to their forthcoming opponents towards the very end of the summer transfer window, Die Werderaner remain highly capable of scoring goals, as illustrated by them scoring two or more goals in each of their last five league games. However, they have kept just two clean sheets in their last 20 league games, suggesting that defending will remain a huge concern for them as the season wears on.
Attack appears to be the best form of defence for them, then, with Werner's hope likely to be that they will win more games than the teams around them. After all, despite making a slow start, they remain outside of the relegation zone courtesy of beating Mainz 05 and FC Koln - the two sides currently occupying the automatic relegation places - but producing an upset in Dortmund on Friday night could prove to be a tall order.
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Dortmund will remain without Mateu Morey and Julian Duranville due to knee and thigh issues respectively, while Thomas Meunier is unlikely to be considered for selection after only recently recovering from injury himself.
Fullkrug will almost certainly lead the line for the hosts against his former club after opening the scoring against Union Berlin last time out, with Julian Brandt and Ramy Bensebaini both hoping for recalls after missing out on starting berths in that victory.
Werder Bremen, meanwhile, will travel without Naby Keita due to a hip injury. The former Liverpool midfielder made his first start for his new club in the 3-2 defeat against Hoffenheim last time out, but he was withdrawn after 59 minutes due to the issue, with his return date set for early November as a best case scenario.
Defenders Niklas Stark and Amos Pieper are both major doubts due to muscle strains, but Jiri Pavlenka and Dudu should both be available for selection despite suffering minor issues themselves in recent weeks.
Borussia Dortmund possible starting lineup:
Kobel; Ryerson, Hummels, Schlotterbeck, Bensebaini; Nmecha, Can; Malen, Reus, Brandt; Fullkrug
Werder Bremen possible starting lineup:
Pavlenka; Veljkovic, Gross, Friedl; Weiser, Schmid, Lynen, Stage, Deman; Borre, Ducksch
We say: Borussia Dortmund 3-1 Werder Bremen
Werder Bremen continue to leak goals on a regular basis under Werner's tutelage, and that looks unlikely to change against one of Germany's strongest sides, especially with Stark and Pieper both likely to miss out through injury for the visitors.
After coming through Werder Bremen's youth system before returning to enjoy four hugely successful years with the club, Fullkrug may be emotionally conflicted ahead of this fixture, but we still expect him to help fire Dortmund to a relatively comfortable victory.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Brett Curtis
