Borussia Dortmund attacking midfielder Shinji Kagawa. (Photo : Getty Images)
Second-running squad Borussia Dortmund (21-3-5, 68 points) will look to extend its 10-game unbeaten run as it clashes with middling team Hamburger SV (9-13-7, 34 points) for a 2015-2016 Bundesliga season matchup at the Signal Iduna Park on Sunday, April 17th.
Borussia Dortmund is coming off a 2-2 draw with contending team Schalke at the Veltins Arena last Sunday as BVB prepared for its Europa League second leg quarterfinals match against Liverpool FC, as per BBC Sport.
Head coach Thomas Tuchel's decided against using his full-strength lineup versus Die Knappen in preparation for the high-anticipated rematch with the Reds at the Anfield on Thursday.
With that, Japanese winger Shinji Kagawa and German defender Matthias Ginter gave the lead to the Borussians at the 49th and 56th minutes respectively, but Schalke players Leroy Sane and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar were able to equalize both times at the 51st and 66th.
The tie widened the gap between Dortmund and league leaders Bayern Munich to seven points in the overall standings with only five matchdays left in the German top flight competitions.
It was a clear display of favor for the Europa League competitions for the 42-year-old Tuchel over trying to compete with Der FCB for the Bundesliga title this season.
Die Schwarzgelben is expected to go back to their original starting eleven in this match against Hamburg, though.
Meanwhile, Hamburg was nipped by middling team SV Darmstadt 98, 1-2, at their home field of Imtech Arena last Saturday, as reported by ESPN.
Darmstadt breezed through a 2-0 lead with one goal apiece from team captain Aytac Sulu and midfielder Jerome Gondorf at the 38th and 54th minutes respectively.
It looked like a clean sheet performance for Die Lilien goalkeeper Christian Mathenia, but Die Rothosen midfielder Lewis Holtby scored a consolation goal in injury time as the hosts avoided a shutout loss.
It was the fourth loss in the last six matches for Hamburg as they currently settle at the 10th spot of the league table, only six points above the bottom three relegation zone.
The predicted result is a 3-0 romp for Borussia Dortmund.
Borussia Dortmund starting lineup (4-3-3 formation): Burki; Schmelzer, Papastathopoulos, Hummels, Ginter; Pulisic, Weigl, Bender; Ramos, Aubameyang, Kagawa
Hamburg starting lineup (4-2-3-1 formation): Adler; Diekmeier, Cleber, Spahic, Sakai; Ekdal, Holtby; Muller, Gregoritsch, Ilicevic; Schipplock
