Dortmund match Preview: Dusseldorf important test for whether BVB can crush minnows

Its Dortmund’s second to last home Bundelsiga game of the Hinrunde as we take on Fortuna Dusseldorf. Last week Favre saved his job when BVB beat Hertha on the road despite a Hummels red card. Favre most likely isn’t out of the hot seat yet as we take on a team only one place ahead of Hertha. Fortuna have 12 points on the season with their most impressive showing a 3-3 tie to Schalke. Hummels will not be available because of suspension and Marcel is out with a torn ligament. Thomas Delaney is still injured. Akanji and Paco are both questionable.

Favre is going to be forced to make some changes to his usual gameplan without Mats Hummels. In his pre-game presser he said he still wasn’t sure if he was going to play a back three for four. Honestly I think he should try the back three as long as he doesnt do any fullback as winger weirdness like he did with Nico vs Barcelona. If it’s a back three we may see Akanji, Zagadou and Weigl in the back, which is a disaster waiting to happen. All three of those defenders either haven’t looked themselves(Akanji and Weigl) or haven’t gotten decent playing time(Zags) this season. Other then the backline, the team should lineup as Witsel-Brandt then Hazard-Reus-Sancho and hopefully Paco in front. If Paco cannot play then Favre would be wise to put Gotze up front instead of Marco. Marco has been miserable as a forward this year and that experiment needs to end. Against Dusseldorf at home we need to not capitalize and waste possession as we did vs Paderborn. Stopping set pieces and going for chances through the middle are the keys to 3 points this time around.

For Fortuna, they will have too play smart to overcome BVB away. While Dusseldorf may be in fourth to last they do have one super dangerous player on their team, Rouwen Hennings. Hennings currently has the third most goals in the Bundesliga this season with 10 total. That is very impressive especially for him being 32 years old. It will be very important for Akanji to step up as a distributor without Hummels for Rouwen. If Rouwen is allowed to have trto much possession in the zone 14, the game could get ugly for BVB quick. While it was fun watching Rouwen torch 04 with a hat trick a few weeks ago, Dortmund’s big concern this game will be not befalling the fate of their Rhineland rivals.

What do you think the best lineup for the game is?