Borussia Dortmund will be aiming to maintain pressure on league leaders Bayern Munich by beating Eintracht Frankfurt in the Bundesliga's Saturday night game.
Frankfurt, meanwhile, have failed to win any of their last seven league matches, with the success of their season now appearing to predominantly rest on winning the DFB-Pokal.
Match preview
© Reuters
Dortmund, of course, have aspirations to win a major trophy themselves this season, as they attempt to hunt down Bayern at the summit and prevent them from winning an 11th consecutive German title.
BVB were the last team to stop the Bavarians from winning the Bundesliga when Jurgen Klopp guided them to successive titles between 2010 and 2012, with Edin Terzic's side looking like the most capable Dortmund team of ending over a decade of hurt at times this season.
However, with Bayern surprisingly dropping two points at home to Hoffenheim last weekend, Dortmund would have been kicking themselves by doing the exact same thing after playing out a pulsating 3-3 draw away to relegation-threatened Stuttgart.
The victory looked to be in the bag when Sebastien Haller and Donyell Malen provided the visitors with a two-goal cushion inside 33 minutes, especially when Konstantinos Mavropanos was given his marching orders six minutes later.
However, Stuttgart rallied to equalise through quickfire strikes from Tanguy Coulibaly and Josha Vagnoman, before Giovanni Reyna scored what appeared to be his third injury-time winner already this calendar year. Sensationally, though, there was room for more drama still as Silas claimed a point for his side in the seventh minute of added time.
Throwing away a two-goal lead in the midst of a title race is one thing, but to do so against 10 men is another matter altogether, and Terzic will be desperately hoping that his players can pick themselves back up against Frankfurt this weekend.
© Reuters
Given that only Hertha Berlin and Werder Bremen have collected fewer points than Frankfurt in the last six matchdays of Bundesliga action, Dortmund appear to be facing Oliver Glasner's side at the best possible moment of the campaign.
Die Adler's hopes of competing in the Champions League for a second successive season appear to be over after their 1-1 draw at home against Borussia Monchengladbach last time out, with fourth-placed RB Leipzig opening up a nine-point gap ahead of them with only 18 possible points to play for.
Things could have been worse had Randal Kolo Muani not continued his sensational form by bagging an 83rd-minute equaliser to cancel out Jonas Hofmann's early effort, with Frankfurt remaining in seventh place ahead of Mainz 05 on goal difference in the process.
Ultimately, though, Frankfurt will understandably have at least one eye on their trip to Stuttgart in their DFB-Pokal semi-final meeting on May 3, with Glasner hoping to help the club become the joint-second most successful team in the history of that competition, while adding to their Europa League triumph after beating Rangers in last season's final.
However, Glasner will be urging his players to ensure that they head into that semi-final with some momentum and confidence on their side, especially with Stuttgart proving how dangerous that they can be against Frankfurt's forthcoming opponents last weekend.
Team News
© Reuters
Dortmund could have a serious defensive injury crisis on their hands, with centre-backs Mats Hummels, Niklas Sule and Nico Schlotterbeck all doubts to start against Frankfurt.
However, Hummels and Sule should be able to shake off their respective muscle issues, with Schlotterbeck likely to be back in contention by the end of April.
Thomas Meunier, Mateu Morey and Julian Duranville have all been ruled out for at least another matchday, with Terzic unlikely to make any changes to his front line after scoring three goals despite dropping points in their last match.
Frankfurt, meanwhile, will travel without Kristijan Jakic, Philipp Max, Hrvoje Smolcic, Almamy Toure and Jesper Lindstrom due to injuries, but Evan Ndicka could be passed fit to be able to return after recovering from his recent muscle strain.
Mario Gotze also missed his side's draw against Gladbach through suspension and should return to the visitors' starting XI to face his former club, with Rafael Borre likely to make way having filled into a slighter deeper role than he would prefer.
Borussia Dortmund possible starting lineup:
Kobel; Ryerson, Sule, Hummels, Guerreiro; Bellingham, Can, Brandt; Malen, Haller, Adeyemi
Eintracht Frankfurt possible starting lineup:
Trapp; Tuta, Hasebe, Ndicka; Buta, Rode, Sow, Lenz; Kamada, Gotze; Kolo Muani
We say: Borussia Dortmund 3-1 Eintracht Frankfurt
As was the case during the latter part of last season when they were chasing glory in the Europa League, Frankfurt appear to have checked out of the Bundesliga to some extent, as winning the DFB-Pokal is firmly within their sights.
As such, we expect Dortmund to bounce back with a crucial victory, but it will not be enough to see them return to the top of the table unless Mainz can do them a favour by beating Bayern earlier in the day.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Brett Curtis
