Borussia Dortmund vs. FC Nurnberg – Bundesliga 2011/12 Preview
Reigning champions Borussia Dortmund will host FC Nurnberg on Saturday, August 20, at Signal Iduna Park. Both sides will be looking to get back to winning ways having tasted defeat in their last games.
The Borussians will certainly have the home ground advantage, and Nurnberg would have to work extremely hard in order to overrun the hosts.
Borussia Dortmund
Jurgen Klopp’s side will enter into the game as favourites. Despite losing their last game to Hoffenheim, the Borussians will be oozing with confidence against the Legend. The manager would want his side to bring the winning habit back to the squad in order
to keep the title hopes up and running.
Dortmund will also have the home ground advantage and 80,000 fans to back them up. It seems highly unlikely that the hosts will come second to the visitors. Dortmund are currently sixth on the league table with three points from two games. The Black Yellows
have scored three goals so far and have conceded two. Klopp’s side will be looking to increase their goals tally when they take on Nurnberg later this evening.
FC Nurnberg
Dieter Hecking’s side will go into the game as definite underdogs. The legend would ideally want to come out as winners having suffered defeat in their last game to http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Hannover-96-c39492. Nurnberg will have their work cut out away from home and are certain to get
tested by the relentless attacking strength of the hosts.
The manager will wish for a better result than anticipated by the majority of people. Nurnberg have scored two times so far and conceded the same number of goals. One thing that could haunt Dortmund is that, Nurnberg’s last victory over http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Hertha-BSC-c39521 came away
from home on the opening weekend. A win here could push them up into the top six.
Team News
Borussia Dortmund
The home side are expected to go in with a 4-2-3-1 formation. http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Shinji-Kagawa-c33364 in the hold.
Defenders http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Lucas-Barrios-c22533 will once again stay on the sidelines with a long term injury.
FC Nurnberg
The visitors will go in with a 4-1-4-1 formation. Tomas Pekhart will play as a lone striker. Philipp Wollscheid and Timm Klose will be in the central defence while http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Patrick-c29254 Rakovsky will start in the goal for the Legend.
First choice goalkeeper Raphael Schafer has been sidelined for up to three weeks with a serious knee injury.
Players to Watch
Dortmund have a lot of quality players in their ranks and everyone will be expected to step up and make amends for the loss against Hoffenheim. Young and exciting midfielder Mario Gotze, along with the Japanese international Shinji Kagawa, will be relied
upon by the home side to earn them an early advantage.
Nurnberg will definitely count on the striking abilities of former Tottenham Hotspur man, Tomas Pekhart, who has scored two goals from the opening two matches.
Prediction
Owing to the home ground advantage, the Borussians are expected to emerge out as 4-1 winners on the night. It would be extremely hard for Nurnberg to gain complete control over their dangerous opposition.
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