Dortmund Match Preview:The season starts vs Augsburg

Finally! This summer felt long for BVB fans. With most of our incoming transfer business wrapped up by May there wasn’t too much to talk about. Now Bundesliga soccer is back! We take on Augsburg at home Saturday! Our only players not available are Raph Guerreiro and Mateu Morey.

With a full lineup we’ll probably be seeing a lineup close to what I predicted in the season preview on Wednesday. Burki-Schulz-Akanji-Hummels-Piz-Witsel-Weigl-Thorgan-Reus-Sancho-Paco is the lineup I think we will use. I am super excited to see what this team will do in action.

Against Augsburg our game plan will be to dominate possession and set up good shots through the wings. As long as we take control early we should play Augsburg off the field. I think Witsel will be crucial to disrupting any opportunities Augsburg try on the break and controlling the pace of our game while in possession. BVB will definitely look a little stale if we can’t break in early; passing around looking for an chance to break through. Thorgan and Sancho will be the players to watch should they both start. Sancho is incredibly hyped for this season and Thorgan is one of our biggest name off season acquisitions ever.

Augsburg did some good business this past summer, picking up good young players like Reece Oxford and Ruben Vargas. Their pickup of Florian Neiderlechner from Freiburg could pay off big for them. While he hasn't played great in a few years, his goal/assist for Frieburg in 2017 was impressive. Him being paired with Alfred Finnbogason could give us some trouble, especially on set piece plays.

While we shouldn’t come away with any hot takes after just one game, this game will definitely set the mood for thee start to both teams seasons. What do you think is BVB’s best lineup for the game?