Perennial contenders Borussia Dortmund (4-2-0, 12 points) and Hertha Berlin SC (4-1-1, 13 points) are set to face one another in a high-profile 2016-2017 Bundesliga season match on Oct. 14, Friday at the Signal Iduna Park.
Start Time and Streaming Info
The game starts at 2:30 p.m. ET. It can be viewed live online thru FuboTV.
Borussia Dortmund is evidently going through the effects of losing three of their best players during the summer transfer window as they had been not in their best form to start the new German top flight season.
The team lost Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Ilkay Gundogan, and Mats Hummels to Manchester United, Manchester City, and Bayern Munich respectively, which had affected team chemistry.
Also, vice-captain Marco Reus' absence due to groin injury had also weakened the squad. Reus is reportedly close to a return and Die Borussen is set to be given a huge boost when he comes back.
The addition of Mario Götze had somehow alleviated the effects, but the World Cup-winner alone is not enough to compensate.
Dortmund suffered their second defeat in only their sixth game this season, dropping a 0-2 game to Bayer Leverkusen at the BayArena on Oct. 1, as per Goal.
Head coach Thomas Tuchel's squad was not able to respond to the goals of Admir Mehmedi and Javier Hernandez in the 10th and 79th minutes to surrender three points in the overall standings.
With the loss, Dortmund is now at third place behind Bayern and Hertha.
Meanwhile, Hertha Berlin has been unbeaten in five of their last six matches to climb to the second spot of the league table.
The Old Lady blanked cellar-dwelling Hamburg, 2-0, in their most recent fixture held at the Olympiastadion on Oct. 1, via SkySports.
Team captain Vedad Ibisevic scored both goals for head coach Pál Dárdai's side to give them their fourth victory in six games this season.
Prediction and Predicted Lineup
The predicted result is a 2-1 bounce back win for Borussia Dortmund.
Borussia Dortmund starting lineup (3-4-2-1 formation): Burki; Piszczek, Papastathopoulos, Ginter; Pulisic, Weigl, Guerreiro, Dembélé; Rode, Castro; Aubameyang
Hertha Berlin starting lineup (4-2-3-1 formation): Jarstein; Weiser, Langkamp, Stark, Plattenhardt; Skjelbred, Lustenberger; Esswein, Stocker, Haraguchi; Ibisevic