Borussia Dortmund take on Mainz at the Signal-Iduna-Park on Friday evening in a very important match as two sides look to turn their season's around for the better.
At this point in time, the runners-up of last season’s Bundesliga campaign are one point from moving above the drop zone. When the season started, not one person thought that this was even possible considering how well they played this past year, but you just never know in football. But alas, here they are. Luckily for Die Schwarzgelben, they played miles better their last time out on the pitch, defeating fellow-relegation threatened side, SC Freiburg by 3-0, with goals coming from Marco Reus and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scoring a brace.
For Mainz, however, they couldn’t have gotten off to a better start this campaign. They didn’t lose a Bundesliga match until late in October when they were destroyed by Wolfsburg on the road. Since that point in time, the O-5ers have been in a constant state of obscurity as they did not win a match for the rest of the calendar year. The visitors of this match started off the New Year with a bang beating Paderborn by 5-0, but once again have dropped four points in their last two matches. Kasper Hjulmand has his work cut out for him if he wants to keep Mainz in the first division.
On the sideline for the hosts, is Durm, Blaszczykowski, Kehl and Großkreutz through various ailments. For the visitors, coach Hjulmand will be without five members of his squad with Jairo, Karius, Schilk, Moritz, and Nedelev will all miss this huge clash with Dortmund.
Expect this match to be wide open. The home fans will be buzzing all match knowing that the three poins could help save their season. Dortmund will be the better side going forward, it's just up to them be compact at the back and clear any danger as soon as possible.