Second-placed Borussia Dortmund face Hannover this weekend who have lost their last six games in the Bundesliga and are rooted to the bottom of the table.
Thomas Tuchel fielded a very strong starting line-up in the midweek fixture against Stuttgart in the quarter-finals of the DFB Pokal, and although Die Borussen were able to get a win in difficult conditions, it may have come at the cost of a slight injury to attacking talisman Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
The Gabon striker has been in outstanding form for Borussia Dortmund this season, and currently leads the Bundesliga goalscoring charts with 20 goals. Tuchel’s men should be able to get the better of Thomas Schaaf’s side even without the 26-year-old, and Dortmund could decide to not take any risks with the striker on Saturday.
Speaking in his pre-match press conference, Tuchel was quoted by the Dortmund official website as saying: “[Aubameyang] was the only one who suffered a knock. He took a knock and is being treated. We will have to wait and see how much pain he is in.”
Meanwhile, midfielders Julian Weigl and Gonzalo Castro sat out the cup win in the midweek fixture and should return to the starting line-up against Hannover. Erik Durm, who usually plays as a left-back, was employed in an attacking role against Stuttgart, but Tuchel is set to revert to his usual 4-3-3, with Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Marco Reus playing on either side of Aubameyang.
Finally, midfielder Sven Bender is back in training following a knee injury in early January that prompted surgery on his meniscus, but the German midfielder is unlikely to be involved for Borussia Dortmund this weekend.
