DFB-Pokal - Chemnitzer FC - Borussia Dortmund preview: Tough task for Tuchel's domestic debut

Borussia Dortmund travel to east German to face 3. Liga side Chemnitzer FC in the first round of the DFB-Pokal. Both the Bundesliga giants and their opponents come into the game in a confident mood, and the pair will be keen to continue that in this tie.

Team news

The hosts are without a few key players for the tie, which could greatly hamper any chances they have of causing an upset. Marcel Kaffenberger is still serving his suspension from last year's red card in the competition, while new signings Martin Fenin is trying to recover from injury in time. Nils Röseler and Philip Türpitz are the crucial players missing from the squad, and will be sorely missed by Karsten Heine. Tom Scheffel and Marc Hensel are also unavailable.

Dortmund have less worries in the injury department, although fatigue from their UEFA Europa League outing on Thursday may play a part in Thomas Tuchel's selection plans. Kevin Großkreutz is unlikely to feature, given his involvement for BVB II on Saturday and his continuing battle to regain fitness. Oliver Kirch and Nuri Sahin are both and injured and won't play any part, otherwise the Westphalians have a full squad to choose from.

Form and key players

Chemnitz have also started back to competitive action and have began their 3. Liga campaign with two successive draws. VfR Aalen and Hansa Rostock were the teams to hold them to a single point, but they were buoyed by the news that captain Anton Fink has signed a new three-year deal with the club. Fink is the division's all-time leading goalscorer (86) and he will need to play well for his side to have an opportunity of winning on Sunday.

Marc Endres, who also signed a new contract at the Stadion an der Gellertstraße, also needs to have an impressive showing this weekend to keep the likes of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Marco Reus at bay. The East German club finished fifth last season and will be keen to try and better that this year.

Dortmund's 0-1 and 5-0 wins over Wolfsberger AC gave them a comfortable 6-0 aggregate triumph against the Austrian side, and it seems that Tuchel has had a really positive effect on the team. Henrikh Mkhitaryan seems to be a man reborn and looks more like the player BVB shelled out almost £20m for a two years ago. He netted a hat-trick against Wolfsberg and is desperate to keep that form up in the long-term.

Although he's unlikely to start, Julian Weigl has stepped up to the plate for Dortmund in the early season games. The defensive minded midfielder has been a calming presence in the heart of the middle of the park. The 19-year-old seems set to play a big part this campaign and is getting more impressive with every passing minute on the pitch.

Referee

The man in the middle come Sunday will be Peter Sippel from Munich. After making his Bundesliga debut back in 1998, the 45-year-old was a FIFA referee between 2003 and 2011. Interestingly, Sippel had short stints in the Qatar Stars League and the K League a decade ago. After this season, he will become the oldest referee in the Bundesliga as Florian Meyer, Knut Kircher and Michael Weiner call time on their careers.