Looking back: Deniz Undav has BVB’s number
Despite dominating at home against Dortmund last season, VfB ended up on the wrong side of a 2-0 scoreline, their first defeat against the Black-and-Yellows since October 2022.
In the reverse fixture, Deniz Undav hit a hat-trick in a 3-3 draw, while the 5-1 home win in 2024/25 still lives long in the memory as Undav struck twice, with Ermedin Demirovic, Enzo Millot and El Bilal Touré also on target in a famous victory.
Dortmund enjoying best start for 11 years
Dortmund have begun 2026/27 with three wins from their first three league assignments, doing so for the first time since 2015/16, when they even took maximum points in their first five games.
Stretching back to last season, the team’s current winning streak also stands at five consecutive matches – the longest such sequence of any club in Germany’s top flight. That means that BVB could equal their best-ever winning run under Kovac of six straight wins in all competitions, set between April and May 2025.
The Bundesliga’s most-experienced coaches
The match pits the two current coaches with most Bundesliga games under their belts: Niko Kovac has overseen 232 and Hoeneß 181. The latter will take charge of his 114th Bundesliga match for VfB, meaning he will pull level with Felix Magath (2001 to 2004) in the club’s all-time list. Jürgen Sundermann tops that particular chart with 143 games.
Personnel: Angelo Stiller and Nikolas Nartey are on the mend.
Angelo Stiller was forced off with a knock in VfB’s 2-1 Bundesliga defeat at TSG Hoffenheim last Saturday. The midfielder has looked much better in training this week, but a final decision on his availability will be made nearer the time. The same goes for Nikolas Nartey, who is also closing in on a return to the matchday squad.
Injured quartet Dan-Axel Zagadou, Luca Jaquez, Lorenz Assignon and Tiago Tomás are all making progress but are unavailable for the clash with Dortmund. Goalkeeper Dennis Seimen and attacker Justin Diehl, both of whom are back in light training, also remain sidelined.
Attendance: MHP Arena at capacity
The home game against BVB is already sold out.
