Even this early in the season, every game for Jurgen Klopp's Borussia Dortmund side has become a 'must-win' situation. Falling off the pace early on has left Die Schwarzgelben languishing in 12th place, with just seven points from six games - already contemplating the impossibility of chasing down Pep Guardiola's Bayern Munich side. As they host Hamburger SV this Saturday at Signal Iduna Park, players and fans alike will know that three points are required.

'We must eradicate the Derby defeat.'

- Jurgen Klopp

Dortmund manager Klopp, despite seeing his side register a fantastic 3-0 win over Anderlecht in the UEFA Champions League midweek, is still smarting over the 2-1 defeat to Schalke in the Revierderby last Sunday, and insists a successful Bundesliga campaign is the main priority: "The Bundesliga is the most important competition for us," he said on Thursday. "Yesterday [against Anderlecht] not everything went perfectly but of course I'm not unhappy." The German went on to highlight the importance of a victory against Hamburger SV: "We must demonstrate a reaction against HSV. We want to eradicate the Derby defeat."

The 2014/15 Bundesliga campaign has not made for happy viewing for Hamburger SV fans thus far. It has been characterised by disappointing displays on the pitch. This led to the appointment of German coach Josef Zinnbauer and since then they have showed a marked improvement, playing with more energy and spirit. Die Rothosen took a point from league leaders Bayern Munich, but defeats to Borussia Gladbach and Eintracht Frankfurt followed.

New technical director Peter Knaber spoke this week about his side's need to get a win as soon as possible: "We now want to go as soon as possible to get a result to take us forward," he said. "I saw that the team is well organised defensively. A certain degree of uniformity is the basis for a successful game. The match in Dortmund is one on that the team can look forward to." Hamburger SV fans will hope that the points come sooner rather than later.

Klopp will be without Ilkay Gundogan, Marco Reus, Oliver Kirch, Nuri Sahin, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Jakub Baszczykowski. Erik Durm and Marcel Schmelzer wil compete for a place at left back, and Milos Jojic could replace Sebastian Kehl in central midfield. Up front, Ciro Immobile and Adrián Ramos - who impressed with a brace off the bench against Anderlecht - both have a chance of making the starting XI.

For Hamburger, Maximlian Beister, Slobodan Rajkovic, Rene Adler and Ivo Ilicevic are confirmed to be unavailable, whereas Nicolai Muller is a doubt. If he does not recover from the knock in time, he is likely to be replaced by Zoltan Stieber or Julian Green. Dennis Diekmeier could return to the field at right back, with Heiko Westermann switching to the middle, and Cleber dropping to the bench.

Possible starting XIs

Borussia Dortmund: Weidenfeller, Piszczek, Subotic, Sokratis, Schmelzer, Bender, Kehl, Groskreutz, Ramos Immobile, Aubameyang

Hamburger SV: Drobny, Cleber, Ostrzolek, Djourou, Westermann, Behrami, Stieber, Arslan, Jiracek, Holtby, Lasogga