How Dortmund could line-up against Gladbach

9:00am on Saturday 19th September 2020
By Martin Macdonald

On Friday evening, Bayern put out a statement of intent in their first Bundesliga game of the season, destroying Schalke at the Allianz Arena.

Now, it is up to the chasing pack to respond.

Leading that chasing pack again will be Dortmund, who finished second to the Bavarian side last term.

The opening match of BVB's campaign is the pick of the first round of Bundesliga fixtures as they welcome Gladbach to the Westfalenstadion in what may prove to be a tough encounter.

This season, Dortmund will be sure to miss the defensive, and indeed attacking prowess of full-back Achraf Hakimi who joined Inter on a permanent deal from Real Madrid this summer.

However, Lucien Favre has strengthened his squad this window with the signings of Reinier on loan, Thomas Meunier for free, and Jude Bellingham from Birmingham.

Bellingham played in the German Cup in his competitive debut during the week and marked the occasion with a debut goal. Dortmund defeated Duisburg 5-0.

In that cup match, perhaps the most positive story to come out of the fixture, other than the result, was the return of club captain Marco Reus after seven months on the sidelines.

However, Favre may be apprehensive about Reus playing two games in a week after such a long lay-off. Expect Thorgan Hazard to be given the nod in his position, with a potential appearance off the bench.

Bellingham is also still just 17, and although he impressed against Duisburg, he might not feature in the starting XI for this one.

Dan-Axel Zagadou and Marcel Schmelzer are injured, while there are doubts over Nico Schulz.