TSG 1899 Hoffenheim - Borussia Dortmund Preview: Gisdol's men under pressure against brilliant BVB

TSG 1899 Hoffenheim host Borussia Dortmund in a Wednesday evening game on matchday six. Markus Gisdol's men are under pressure as they only have one point after the first five matches, while Thomas Tuchel and his team won every single of the five first tussles.

In real trouble

The Kraichgauer are in real trouble, as they have only drawn once in the last five games, losing the other four matches. The club, who is financially boosted by a big German IT company, has the aim to take part in a European competition but at the moment this is only a utopian dream. Eduardo Vargas, Kevin Kúranyi, Kevin Volland and their teammates should ensure they leave the bottom half as quick as possible if this is to happen.

Unlucky defeats

Hoffenheim lost their first game of the new 2015-16 campaign 1-2 in an away game against Bayer 04 Leverkusen, even though Steve Zuber scored the opener for his team in the fifth minute. But Stefan Kießling and Julian Brandt scored for Leverkusen. One week later, Gisdol's men lost their first home game against German champions FC Bayern München 1-2, with Robert Lewandowski scoring the winning goal with only ten men in stoppage time after Kevin Volland had scored the fastest ever Bundesliga goal within nine seconds.

Hoffenheim supporters had hoped for a good game against Darmstadt at the legendary Böllenfalltorstadion, but the match ended in a goal-less draw - the only point for 1899 so far. In their next home game, Hoffenheim played well against Werder Bremen but again lost in stoppage time against the Grünweißen with two goals from Zlatko Junuzovic and Anthony Ujah. Last Friday, they were beaten 1-3 at the Coface Arena against 1. FSV Mainz 05 with Yunus Malli scoring all three goals for the hosts.

Perfect start with new coach

Borussia Dortmund had a perfect start to the season with new coach Thomas Tuchel, who succeeded Jürgen Klopp after he had announced his departure at the end of the 2014-15 campaign. BVB have since won all of the 11 competitive games in the Bundesliga, the DFB-Pokal and the Europa League.

People may think that Dortmund had easy opponents in their first games, which is actually not true. On matchday one, they surprised most with a very strong 4-0 home win against last year's third placed team, Borussia Mönchengladbach. After another 4-0 away win against Ingolstadt and a 3-1 home win against Hertha BSC, Thomas Tuchel's men also won 4-2 against Hannover 96 in the HDI-Arena. Last Sunday, they played a stunning match against Bayer Leverkusen, winning 3-0, but missed a lot of chances to score even more goals.

Team news

Norwegian international Tarik Elyounoussi will not be available for Markus Gisdol, as he suffers from ongoing thigh problems. Swedish international and a transfer from the 2014-15 season, Jiloan Hamad, is not yet fit after his injury. Thomas Tuchel can use every man but for the long-term absentees: Erik Durm, Neven Subotic and Nuri Sahin.

The referee

The match's official will be Tobias Welz from Wiesbaden. He will be assisted by Rafael Foltyn and Martin Thomsen as his linesmen, as well as Wolfgang Stark - the fourth official.