Position
A lot of goals are guaranteed when BVB play in the Champions League. In the five games so far, Borussia Dortmund have scored 17 goals; only Paris Saint-Germain have scored more (19). However, Dortmund have also conceded eleven goals. Last Tuesday's 4-0 win over Villarreal at Signal Iduna Park was the first time this season that BVB have kept a clean sheet in the UCL. After three wins, one draw and just one defeat (1-4 at Manchester City), BVB are currently in sixth place in the league.
Coach Niko Kovac's team struggled against Villarreal in the first 45 minutes. Serhou Guirassy's opener in first-half stoppage time came more or less out of nowhere. Dortmund's centre-forward also made it 2-0 shortly after the break with a penalty that was converted on the rebound. As the preceding handball resulted in a red card, Borussia were a man up from then on. Karim Adeyemi settled the result with his strike to make it 3-0 just under the hour mark. Daniel Svensson added the fourth goal in stoppage time. Shortly before that, Fabio Silva missed a penalty for BVB.
In the Bundesliga, Kovac's team recently only managed two draws at Hamburger SV (1-1) and against VfB Stuttgart (3-3). In the clash with the Swabians, Dortmund first let a 2-0 half-time lead slip, then took the lead again shortly before the end through Karim Adeyemi (3-2), only to concede an equaliser in stoppage time through Stuttgart's hat-trick killjoy Deniz Undav. It was the fourth draw in eleven league games. Dortmund's only defeat to date came at Bayern Munich (1-2). The Black and Yellows currently occupy fourth place on 22 points, just one point behind third-placed Bayer 04, and now face two games in a row against the Werkself. Ahead of the away game at the BayArena, Borussia Dortmund can look back on a good record at Leverkusen: BVB have only lost three of their last 18 games against the Werkself. The two teams will meet for the first time in the DFB Pokal, with Borussia Dortmund hosting Bayer 04 on Tuesday, 2 December (kick-off: 21:00 CET). Borussia beat Rot-Weiss Essen 1-0 in the first round and knocked out Eintracht Frankfurt in a penalty shoot-out in round two.
PersonNEl
In terms of available personnel, BVB coach Niko Kovac has been in a fairly comfortable position for several weeks. The 54-year-old has recently only had to manage without centre-back Niklas Süle (toe) and striker Maximilian Beier (slight muscle strain). While Süle will also be absent on Saturday in Leverkusen, there is certainly hope that Beier will make an appearance. In any case, Kovac has plenty of options in all parts of the team. Goalkeeper Gregor Kobel and defender Waldemar Anton are the only players to have started all 18 matches so far this season. In addition to Anton, captain Emre Can, Germany international Nico Schlotterbeck, Ramy Bensebaini and Aaron Anselmino can also play in the three-man defence. The latter joined Dortmund on loan from Chelsea in the summer and has impressed so far as a composed defender with strong tackling ability.
Another new signing has quickly proved to be a reinforcement on the left wing: The Swede Daniel Svensson (FC Nordsjaelland/Denmark) scored his second goal in the current Champions League campaign against Villarreal and has already netted once in the Bundesliga. Julian Ryerson, Yan Couto and Maximilian Beier are also available on the flanks. Kovac also has plenty of choice in midfield. Jobe Bellingham, who was signed from Sunderland, is getting better and better in the centre. The younger brother of Real Madrid player Jude has recently shown a clear improvement in form both defensively and offensively after some initial difficulties. "He has presence, good physicality and quality as a player," said Kovac, praising the 20-year-old Englishman. His positional rivals are Felix Nmecha, Marcel Sabitzer, Pascal Groß and Salih Özcan.
Another Englishman is also making significant progress at BVB: Carney Chukwuemeka, who like Anselmino arrived from Chelsea, is a technically adept player between the lines, works diligently against the ball and brings pace, dynamism and determination to his transitional play. The same also applies to Julian Brandt, Beier and Karim Adeyemi, who exude a lot of goal threat both as providers and finishers. Serhou Guirassy is the team's top scorer and provider with five goals and two assists.
Problems
BVB still have room for improvement in terms of their game. As was often the case in their first eleven Bundesliga matches, Dortmund struggled to put pressure on their opponents in the Champions League against Villarreal last Tuesday, especially in the first half. The Black and Yellows were often static and slow in their build-up play and conceded many turnovers. There was a lack of pace and intensity, which repeatedly opened up spaces for the Spanish side. Borussia Dortmund only became more dominant when they had the extra man. In the Bundesliga, Borussia have so far collected a number of points in rather lacklustre victories such as the 1-0 wins against Wolfsburg, FC Köln and Augsburg. BVB have scored 19 goals in eleven games - seven teams have scored more. This is not least due to the fact that goalscorer Serhou Guirassy is not yet netting as consistently as he did last season, when he finished second in the goalscoring charts with 21 goals - alongside Patrik Schick - behind Bayern Munich striker Harry Kane.
Performers
While they have rarely been able to score at will up front in the league, Borussia have impressed with their defensive stability at the back. In addition to the three clean sheets mentioned above, BVB did not concede in three other games. Only FC Bayern have also kept a clean sheet six times. And only the record champions have conceded fewer goals (8) than Dortmund (10). Even if the attack as a whole has fallen short of its potential, it certainly has top quality. If Guirassy, Adeyemi, Beier, Brandt and co. can really hit their stride, the Black and Yellows will undoubtedly be one of the strongest teams in the league.
