Bundesliga Preview: Eintracht Braunschweig v Borussia Dortmund

Borussia Dortmund can end a run of four Bundesliga games without a win when they face Eintracht Braunschweig on Friday.

Jurgen Klopp’s side have picked up only one win in their last seven matches, a streak that has seen them drop 17 points behind leaders Bayern Munich after the Bavarians’ 2-1 win at Stuttgart on Wednesday.

Braunschweig on the other hand arrive for the game with renewed confidence.

Although they sit bottom of the table, Torsten Lieberknecht’s side are unbeaten in their last two matches and avoiding defeat against Dortmund would see them record their best run of the season.

Dortmund’s players may be short of confidence given their recent form, but that cannot be said about Klopp, who is expecting his side to get back to winning ways after last week’s home draw with Augsburg.

“In this game we just have to show more on the pitch,” he said at a press conference on Wednesday. “The preparation time during the (mid-season) break is there to get ready for the entire second half of the season and not just one game.

“If that game didn’t turn out to be as we hoped then we aren’t allowed to look for the causes too much, we have to carry on working on the same path as before and that’s what we want to do.

“Anything I say will have to be proven on the pitch on Friday but counter-pressing in that game will be a fantastic opportunity to create chances and one should do that if one wants to win the game.”

When the two sides met earlier in the season Dortmund ran out 2-1 winners. Despite being frustrated for 75 minutes by the strugglers, Marco Reus and Jonas Hofmann netted within 11 minutes of each other to secure the points.

The hosts are five points from safety ahead of the match and victory would boost their chances of survival, while also being the biggest win in the club’s history.

Lieberknecht has two long term absentees available, Torsten Oehrl (tendon) and Gianluca Korte (knee), but otherwise should have a fully fit squad to choose from.

Dortmund’s injury-plagued season continued last week with Jakub Blaszczykowski suffering a serious knee injury against Augsburg, however there may be some good news after Mats Hummels came through a reserve game on Tuesday with no problems.