The headline fixture of Matchday 13 in the Bundesliga will see Borussia Dortmund travel to BayArena to face league leaders Bayer Leverkusen in what promises to be a very entertaining encounter.
Bayer Leverkusen will look to maintain the top spot in the Bundesliga standings when they host Borussia Dortmund on Sunday evening.
Bayer Leverkusen have enjoyed one of the best starts to a German top-flight season of any team this century as well as their best-ever start to a Bundesliga season. Die Werkself have so far dropped just two points en route to sitting two clear of Bayern Munich after 12 rounds.
This leaves them with 11 wins on the board and just one draw, which came in a 2-2 clash with the Bavarians. Ever since then, Xabi Alonso’s side have been breathing down the necks of Bayern fans as they continue to rack up remarkable wins. They have also made light work of their group in the UEFA Europa League by winning every single game, conceding just two goals and scoring 14 of their own.
Time will tell whether Alonso can continue to steer this record-breaking team closer to the title and mount a credible challenge to Bayern’s dominance in the Bundesliga. However, a win over Dortmund this weekend would be arguably their biggest statement yet.
On the other hand, Borussia Dortmund have made far from a perfect start in the league and are not in the title race like they were last season. They are currently ten points adrift of Bayer Leverkusen at the top and sit with two losses and seven wins from 12 matches.
However, Die Schwarzgelben are not a team to be taken lightly, as evident from their extraordinary performances in the UEFA Champions League, beating Newcastle United home and away before registering a win over AC Milan at San Siro last time out to sit atop of the so-called “Group of Death.”
Team News & Tactics
Bayer Leverkusen
The home side have a few notable absentees for this match, with Arthur out for several weeks after picking up a muscle issue while on international duty with the Brazil Olympic team, while Timothy Fosu-Mensah is ruled out due to a lack of match fitness.
Otherwise, the hosts have no fresh injury concerns on the back of the midweek Europa League win over Hacken, which gives Xabi Alonso a lot of ability to rotate his squad in a campaign where his team is fighting on multiple fronts.
Lukas Hradecky will operate in between the sticks, with the hosts lining up in a 3-4-2-1 setup in front of him. Alonso could deploy the back three of Odilon Kossounou, Jonathan Tah, and Edmond Tapsoba as they try to keep things solid at the back.
Wing-backs Jeremie Frimpong and Alex Grimaldo have been in fine goalscoring form this season and could pose a threat to the Borussia Dortmund defence on Sunday. Jonas Hofmann will also be keen to make his mark against his former club.
Grimaldo, in particular, has scored in three of his last four matches and will almost certainly keep his place in left wing-back, with the capability to launch an attack as well as provide the quality build-up from the inverted role.
Florian Wirtz should make this one after being rested on Thursday, while star striker Victor Boniface will be looking to add to his seven-goal tally this season after snapping a five-game goal drought in midweek.
Probable Lineup (3-4-2-1): Hradecky; Kossounou, Tah, Tapsoba; Frimpong, Palacios, Xhaka, Grimaldo; Hofmann, Wirtz; Boniface
Borussia Dortmund
Borussia Dortmund suffered a significant blow when midfielder Felix Nmecha suffered a hip injury that has ruled him out for the entire season. Other than that, Julien Duranville is the only absentee, as he is ruled out with a muscle injury.
Sebastien Haller, Niklas Sule, and Karim Adeyemi missed last weekend due to an illness bug that affected a number of players but should come back to contention, which means that Edin Terzic can also field a strong side at the BayArena.
Gregor Kobel will start between the sticks behind the defensive quartet of Ramy Bensebaini, Nico Schlotterbeck, Matt Hummels, and Julian Ryerson. The Swiss goalkeeper’s importance to the side cannot be understated, and he came up clutch against AC Milan with some really important saves early on.
Emre Can and Marcel Sabitzer have been brilliant in the midfield and will naturally start here in the double pivot. After his goal against Borussia Monchengladbach last weekend, Jamie Bynoe-Gittens was rewarded on merit with a start against AC Milan. He paid off Terzic’s faith in him with a wonderful, Man of the Match-worthy performance.
The English-born attacker could continue on the left wing here, with the experienced Marco Reus manning the opposite flank. Leading the line up front, Niclas Fullkrug has scored in three of his last four outings for BVB, while Julian Brandt should force his way past Donyell Malen to start in support of Dortmund’s frontman.
Probable Lineup (4-2-3-1): Kobel; Ryerson, Hummels, Schlotterbeck, Bensebaini; Can, Sabitzer; Reus, Brandt, Bynoe-Gittens; Fullkrug
Key Stats
- Bayer Leverkusen have won their last eight Bundesliga matches.
- Bayer Leverkusen lost both of their matches against Borussia Dortmund in the Bundesliga last season.
- The hosts’ have scored at least two goals in their last 12 Bundesliga matches.
- Die Werkself have picked up a total of 34 points from their first 12 matches in the Bundesliga — their best-ever start to a top-flight campaign.
- Bayer Leverkusen have scored the second-most goals in the league so far.
Player to Watch
Alex Grimaldo
The set-piece specialist with the trustiest left boot in football has played a crucial role in Bayer Leverkusen’s fearful attack this season in a creative sense. In addition, he has taken his output to a whole new level under Xabi Alonso’s tutelage and is regularly among the goals these days.
Grimaldo’s goal-contributing form has been too good to ignore this season, propelling an exciting title charge for Bayer Leverkusen with seven goals and five assists in 1075 minutes in the Bundesliga.
The 28-year-old was long overdue for an international call-up. His debut for Spain against Cyprus in a European Championship qualifier during the November international break was a predictable hit, as he provided an assist for Mikel Oyarzabal in a 3-1 win. He also found the back of the net in the 3-0 win over Werder Bremen last weekend and would pose a real menace on the left flank.
Prediction
Bayer Leverkusen 3-2 Borussia Dortmund
Bayer Leverkusen’s unbeaten, magical season confronts one of its biggest challenges so far against another title hopeful in Borussia Dortmund. This game will be the perfect opportunity for the Black and Yellows to fire themselves back into title contention after their inconsistent start to the Bundesliga season.
But beating Xabi Alonso’s in-form league leaders will certainly not be an easy task. The visitors face a mammoth task to keep out one of the most destructive, in-form attacking sides in Europe, especially at home. Bayer Leverkusen should have the quality to prevail, but a high-scoring 2-2 draw will not be a surprise.
