Hoffenheim will be hoping to win their fifth successive match in the Bundesliga when they host Borussia Dortmund on Friday evening.
Dortmund, meanwhile, are unbeaten with three wins and two draws from their opening five fixtures.
Match preview
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Due to losing 2-1 at home to Freiburg on the opening weekend, Hoffenheim cannot boast about a similar record, but more importantly they head into Friday night's encounter one point ahead of their opponents having racked up four straight victories.
Former Stuttgart boss Pellegrino Matarazzo has built on the strong early foundations which he laid at Hoffenheim following his appointment in February, having guided them away from relegation danger with a superb run of form towards the end of the campaign.
Die Kraichgauer have scored in every match so far this season - and in 15 of their last 16 league matches under Matarazzo's tutelage - while they defied pre-match expectations to keep their first clean sheet when beating Union Berlin 2-0 away from home on Saturday.
Andrej Kramaric bagged his third goal in four matches to open the scoring from the penalty spot, before Maximilian Beier doubled the visitors' lead before half time, with Union Berlin lacking their usual enterprise after suffering a galling last-gasp defeat against Real Madrid in their first ever Champions League appearance in midweek.
Hoffenheim, of course, will be dreaming of returning to the elite level of European football as soon as possible, with their excellent start to the season only heightening those aspirations. However, there is little doubt that their upcoming test against Dortmund will be their biggest of the season so far after a relatively gentle fixture schedule.
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Likewise, Dortmund will be disappointed to have already ceded ground to Bayern Munich after pushing the Bavarians to the final day of the season during a pulsating title race last time out, with Edin Terzic's side surprisingly dropping points against relegation candidates VfL Bochum and Heidenheim.
Either side of losing 2-0 away to Paris Saint-Germain in their opening Champions League fixture, though, BVB have bounced back well to claim maximum points against Freiburg and Wolfsburg, with club captain Marco Reus marking his return from yet another injury by scoring in both victories.
The 34-year-old fired home from close range after Julian Brandt's cutback to break the deadlock after 68 minutes against the Wolves last time out, with Terzic's side managing to keep their second clean sheet of the season to hold onto all three points.
As such, despite those aforementioned frustrating draws, Dortmund will have the opportunity to move top of the table by beating Hoffenheim on Friday. If they are to push Bayern - and potentially Xabi Alonso's resurgent Bayer Leverkusen - once again, they will need to ensure that they mount plenty of winning runs between now and the end of the campaign.
Team News
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Hoffenheim are expected to remain without Florian Grillitsch, Stanley Nsoki, Marco John, Bambase Conte and Dennis Geiger due to injury, while loanee forward Wout Weghorst was withdrawn against Union Berlin due to a muscle injury and could miss out.
If so, Ihlas Bebou will almost certainly replace the Dutchman in attack on Friday, but Matarazzo is unlikely to make any other changes to a winning side after they returned from the capital with yet another victory last time out.
Dortmund, meanwhile, will travel without Marcel Sabitzer, Julien Duranville, Mateu Morey and Thomas Meunier due to injury, with Terzic likely to have his eye on potential rotation ahead of a crucial home match against AC Milan in the Champions League on Wednesday.
It remains to be seen whether the 40-year-old continues with his new 3-4-2-1 formation or switches to a back four, but the likes of Emre Can, Niklas Sule and Donyell Malen will be hoping to return to the starting XI either way.
Hoffenheim possible starting lineup:
Baumann; Kabak, Brooks, Vogt; Kaderabek, Promel, Stach, Skov; Kramaric, Beier; Bebou
Borussia Dortmund possible starting lineup:
Kobel; Ryerson, Hummels, Schlotterbeck, Bensebaini; Can, Nmecha; Malen, Reus, Brandt; Haller
We say: Hoffenheim 1-1 Borussia Dortmund
With both teams picking up some strong results so far this season, we expect to see a high-quality match play out at the Rhein-Neckar-Arena on Friday evening, with the respective managers seemingly finding a better balance between attack and defence in recent weeks.
Although BVB will be acutely aware that any more dropped points could see them fall too far behind Bayern in the title race even at this early stage of the season, we can envisage them having to share for a share of the spoils in Baden-Wurttemberg, which would at least keep their unbeaten record in tact.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Brett Curtis
