After an agonizingly dull two weeks of international football, the Bundesliga is back. This Friday, Borussia Dortmund have the (dis)pleasure of welcoming Hertha BSC Berlin to the Westfalenstadion. It should be quite the match. Hertha have had a great start to the season, with an excellent 4-1-1 record that has them in second place, a point ahead of BVB. After a frustrating 2-0 loss to Bayer Leverkusen, it’s vital that Borussia Dortmund stop Hertha from building too much of a lead in the standings.

Many on this site predicted a mediocre season from Hertha, but so far their play has been anything but. Their only loss was at the hands of Bayern Münich, and they have kept three clean sheets through six matches. Capping off the Blue-Whites excellent start has been the brilliant play of Vedad Ibisevic, who has scored five goals and notched two assists in just six matches.

For more on what to expect from Hertha Berlin, read our Key Matchups Here.

As for Borussia Dortmund, this is going to be a tough one. Hertha would be a difficult opponent even if BVB were at full strength, but BVB’s recent injury crisis makes this match much more difficult. To summarize, here is a list of players who will not be available tomorrow:

Marc Bartra will also be a game day decision. He is available, but has had limited training sessions. If he is out, then we’d be without our two choice center backs, and Sebastian Rode may have to play on the back line, with Pulisic or Kagawa taking his place at Midfield.

Our expected lineup hasn’t been released yet, but I’d expect something along the lines of this: (assuming Bartra starts)

—--———-—-Auba————-—--

Dembélé—Götze—Rode—Pulisic

————-——Weigl——————-

Schmelzer-Ginter-Bartra-Passlack

Given the lack of success that the Rode-Weigl-Götze midfields have had so far, I don’t exactly have a lot of confidence in this lineup. The problem is we don’t have any other options in the midfield other than Nuri Sahin, so this is really the best we have.

Prediction

In our Key Matchups, Dan Predicted a 3-1 victory for BVB. I’d hate to be a pessimist, but I really don’t see us putting up three goals against a strong Hertha side, nor do I see us keeping them to one goal or less. I sincerely hope I’m wrong, but I just don’t have any confidence in this BVB side. I fear our unbeaten streak at home may be coming to an end.

Prediction: Borussia Dortmund 1-2 Hertha Berlin