The fourth-place Hoffenheim host the second-place Borussia Dortmund in the Bundesliga on Saturday in the PreZero Arena with kickoff at 5:30 pm.
The two teams will be looking to bounce back from poor exits from the DFB-Pokal in midweek, with an encounter likely to provide spectators with plenty of excitement.
Despite a loss in their last five fixtures across all competitions, Hoffenheim head into the weekend on a relatively strong run of form.
Five wins and two draws in seven Bundesliga games, including four on the bounce, saw Sebastian Hoeness’s side shoot up the table in Germany’s top flight before the winter break, but that run has been halted ever so slightly over the past week.
A 4-1 DFB-Pokal defeat at home to Freiburg followed a 2-1 defeat at Union Berlin in the Bundesliga last weekend.
Meanwhile, Dortmund will travel to the PreZero Arena on Saturday, hoping to put a cup exit behind them.
Unlike their hosts, who were pitted against a fellow Bundesliga side, BVB was instead knocked out by 2. Bundesliga leaders St Pauli, in a humiliating 2-1 defeat.
Marco Rose resisted the urge to rest some of his big names during their Bundesliga title challenge, but he could not prevent his side from losing to Darmstadt and ending the defense of their DFB-Pokal trophy.
Hoffenheim vs Dortmund Head to Head
Both sides have 29 games against each other with hosts taking 7 wins while opponents with 12 wins. Here is a look at their previous encounters:
Home
- Hoffenheim 1-4 Freiburg
- Union Berlin 2-1 Hoffenheim
- Hoffenheim 3-1 Augsburg
- Hoffenheim 1-1 Borussia M’gladbach
- Bayer Leverkusen 2-2 Hoffenheim
Away
- Pauli 2-1 Dortmund
- Dortmund 5-1 Freiburg
- Frankfurt 2-3 Dortmund
- Hertha 3-2 Dortmund
- Dortmund 3-0 Greuther Furth
Hoffenheim Team News
On Saturday, the hosts will be without as many as eight players when they play host to Borussia Dortmund.
Due to injury, Hoffenheim is without Robert Skov, Ermin Bicakcic, Mijat Gacinovic, and Pavel Kaderabek is also doubtful. COVID-19 should see Marco John and Florian Grillitsch sit out as well.
Borussia Dortmund Team News
As visitors, Emre Can and Dahoud are likely to sit out once more due to groin and back injuries, respectively, meaning Axel Witsel will join Jude Bellingham and Julian Brandt in the centre of midfield again.
Prediction and Odds
Both sides will be looking to break each other down on Saturday, with both successful in front of goal in recent weeks and leaky at the back too.
- Draw
- Double Chance
- Haaland to Score
