Borussia Dortmund and SC Verl continue to ramp up preparations for the 2022-23 campaign with a pre-season clash on Thursday evening at Stadion am Lotter Kreuz.
The third-tier hosts beat Dutch outfit Heracles 3-1 in their last exhibition encounter, while Edin Terzic's side claimed a 2-0 success over Dynamo Dresden.
Match preview
After managing to keep Verl in the 3. Liga by the skin of their teeth last term, 36-year-old Michel Kniat is preparing another season in the hotseat as this week's hosts aim to salvage their third-tier status once again.
Formerly ever-presents in the Regionalliga, Verl rose into the 3. Liga for the first time in the club's history in the COVID-hit 2019-20 season and made an immediate impression at that level by finishing seventh in the 2020-21 campaign.
Kniat's side were at risk of demotion until the final week of the 2021-22 season, but they can look ahead to a third consecutive year of 3. Liga football, and results in pre-season indicate that the club could certainly improve on their 16th-placed finish this time around.
Verl put nine past Schwarz-Weiss Rehden, managed to hold Paderborn to a 2-2 draw and only lost by a 1-0 scoreline to Schalke 04 before easing to a 3-1 success over Heracles, with Eduard Probst and Cyrill Akono on target versus the latter.
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Despite steering Borussia Dortmund to DFB-Pokal glory during his time in interim charge, Edin Terzic would not be handed the reins on a full-time basis in 2021, as the Black and Yellows turned to Marco Rose to help the club finally try to end Bayern Munich's spate of dominance.
From his role as technical manager, Terzic could only watch from afar as Dortmund finished second best yet again, and after Rose was sacked after just one season in charge, the 39-year-old was given a three-year contract in the Westfalenstadion hotseat.
Terzic has already overseen a significant summer of change since his arrival, with Erling Braut Haaland, Axel Witsel, Dan-Axel Zagadou and Marcel Schmelzer no longer donning the BVB shirt, but Sebastien Haller, Karim Adeyemi, Nico Schlotterbeck, Niklas Sule and Salih Ozcan are all ready to make an impression.
Dortmund have already got the better of Luner SV and Dynamo Dresden this summer, with Mats Hummels and Antonios Papadopoulos on target against the latter, and Terzic's side will soon test themselves against continental opposition.
Valencia, Villarreal and Antalyaspor will all test their mettle against the Black and Yellows before they open their Bundesliga campaign with a heavyweight showdown against Bayer Leverkusen on August 6, and the squad will have more of a familiar feel to it for Thursday's trip to Verl.
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Team News
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Verl centre-back Barne Pernot is still out injured for the hosts as he recovers from a cruciate ligament rupture, while left-back Luca Stellwagen was only able to complete 40 minutes of the win over Heracles.
Jan-Phillip Eichhorn could deputise for Stellwagen at full-back if the 23-year-old is not cleared to feature, but the third-tier side should otherwise be working with a fully-fit squad against BVB.
As for Dortmund, Terzic welcomed his crop of international players back to base for training on Monday, and the likes of Sule, Haller, Ozcan, Schlotterbeck and Adeyemi could now make their non-competitive debuts for the club.
Donyell Malen and Emre Can are both being restricted to individual training but could earn some minutes in pre-season, while Giovanni Reyna did not complete the full session on Monday as Terzic takes extra care over the injury-plagued 19-year-old's fitness.
A strong Dortmund side should see the returning Jude Bellingham, Raphael Guerreiro and Marco Reus take to the field at some point in the contest, with the latter shaking off the muscular injury he sustained during the international break.
SC Verl possible starting lineup:
Wiesner; Knost, Paetow, Berzel, Eichhorn; Burger, Klann, Baack; Probst, Wagner, Franke
Borussia Dortmund possible starting lineup:
Kobel; Meunier, Schlotterbeck, Hummels, Guerreiro; Bellingham, Dahoud, Ozcan; Wolf, Haller, Hazard
We say: SC Verl 0-3 Borussia Dortmund
Dortmund's returning international players have not had long to get to grips with their plethora of new teammates, and BVB fans should therefore not expect a totally fluid team performance in midweek.
Nevertheless, Terzic's side are full of youthful quality as ever and have two renowned goalscorers in Adeyemi and Haller seeking to get off to a fast start in Germany, so BVB should prevail comfortably in spite of Verl's respectable set of early pre-season results.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
