Bundesliga Preview: Borussia Dortmund v Nuremberg

Borussia Dortmund welcome in-form Nuremberg to Signal Iduna Park on Saturday desperate to maintain a top-three place in the Bundesliga.

After a 3-0 defeat to crisis-club Hamburg last Saturday, Dortmund missed the chance to move into second place in the table, although Jurgen Klopp’s men are only a point adrift of nearest rivals Bayer Leverkusen, who also lost last weekend.

Nuremberg head to Dortmund with four wins in their last five matches, a run that has seen them climb away from the relegation zone and put four points between themselves and Hamburg in 16th.

Gertjan Verbeek’s men have not lost away from home since November and have only been defeated three times on their travels in the league this season – at defending champions Bayern Munich, Bayer Leverkusen and Borussia Monchengladbach.

Dortmund have not made Signal Iduna Park the fortress that it has been in previous campaigns as Klopp’s side lost three league games in succession at the end of 2013.

Klopp will at least be pleased with the response of his players as Dortmund put the defeat to Hamburg behind them with an emphatic 4-2 win over Zenit in the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday.

And Klopp expects his side to pick up where they left off in Russia against Nuremberg.

“It is going to go to the finish in the league,” Klopp said. “Which makes the defeat in Hamburg so annoying.

“Three points there would have done us incredibly well.

“Let’s play like we did against St Petersburg, (and) pick up enough points to qualify (for next season’s Champions League).”

Although Dortmund have struggled to be consistent in 2013-14, last season’s runners-up will be buoyed by the fact that they remain unbeaten in their last 10 league meetings against Nuremberg. In fact, you have to go back to November 1990 to find the last time that Nuremberg won at Dortmund.

Verbeek will be without midfielder Makoto Hasebe due to a knee problem, but he does have Josip Drmic available, with the Swiss striker having scored six in his last seven appearances.

Mats Hummels is back in contention for Dortmund following his knee injury, while Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang will be keen to continue his goalscoring record of four in as many Bundesliga outings.