Haaland-less Dortmund try to keep pace with Bayern

BERLIN: Despite the ongoing absence of star striker Erling Braut Haaland because of a persistent hip injury, second-placed Borussia Dortmund will try to keep pace with Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich when they host Stutgart on Saturday.

Dortmundtrailinthetablebyfourpointsonfriday, ahead of the Bayern’s match against Augsburg.

This will be Dortmund’s sixth consecutive match without Haaland and hopes are fading that the Norwegian will return before their league showdown at home to Bayern in two weeks. Dortmund’s form withouthaalandhasbeenerratic,culminatingina2-1 defeat at RB Leipzig before the international break.

Club captain Marco Reus will lead Dortmund’s atack alongside Dutch striker Donyell Malen knowing the hosts can ill afford another slip-up against Stutgart if they want to challenge Bayern.

Raphael Guerreiro, Emre Can and Mahmoud Dahoud could all return ater recovering from injuries.

Dortmund want to exorcise memories of the 5-1 thumping Stutgart handed them when the teams met at Signal Iduna Park last December.

The freak result saw Dortmund sack former coach Lucien Favre as Stutgart’s Congolese striker Silas Katompa Mvumpa neted twice in the rout.

It is also a tune-up for Wednesday’s Champions League match at Sporting Lisbon, where Dortmund must win to stay on course for the last 16.

Leipzig are without injured striker Yussuf Poulsen for their match at Hoffenheim on Saturday.

In the capital, tensions will be high for Saturday’s derby when Union Berlin host Hertha.

A capacity crowd of 22,000 is expected despite surging numbers of Covid-19 in Germany and only fully vaccinated or recovered supporters can atend.

This is only the fith time the neighbouring clubs havemetingermany’stopflightsinceunionreached the Bundesliga in 2019. It finished in a 1-1 draw when the clubs last played in east Berlin last April.

Player to watch: Genki Haraguchi Union’s Japan midfielder faces former club Hertha Berlin on the back of great form ater switching from the wing to an atacking midfield role.

German League fixtures (all times 1430 GMT unless stated)

Saturday: Bayer Leverkusen vs Bochum, Arminia Bielefeld vs Wolfsburg, Borussia Moenchengladbach v Greuther Fuerth, Borussia Dortmund vs Stutgart, Hoffenheim vs RB Leipzig, Union Berlin vs Hertha Berlin (1730)

Sunday: Freiburg vs Eintracht Frankfurt, Mainz vs Cologne (1630)