Borussia Dortmund's Bundesliga season has gotten off to a rather rocky start, as they currently sit 11th after an opening day loss to Bayer Leverkusen and a 2-0 loss to Mainz over the weekend. With looming fixtures in a very competitive UEFA Champions League group, they'll need to clamber back into the top of the table now if they hope to have any chance of staying in step with Bayern Munich this season.
Borussia Dortmund vs. VfB Stuttgart: Time, TV schedule and game preview
It’s only the fifth week of the season, and Borussia Dortmund are already falling behind their rivals. They need a win on Wednesday.
Matthias Hangst
Meanwhile on the other side of the matchup, Stuttgart are hoping they'll put on enough of a showing to not be an embarrassment to their fans. Armin Veh's side haven't scored a goal since their opening day draw with Borussia Mönchengladbach and currently sit dead last in the Bundesliga table.
Key player - Antonio Rüdiger (VfB Stuttgart)
If Stuttgart are to have any chance in this match, they're going to need young German international Antonio Rüdiger to step up and anchor their backline in a way he really hasn't all season. With the firepower Borussia Dortmund bring to the table and Stuttgart's sputtering offense, anything less then a stellar performance from the 21-year-old will not be enough for Stuttgart to earn even a point from this match.
Key matchup - Oriol Romeu vs. Shinji Kagawa
Dortmund are going to create chances and they are more then likely going to score goals. However, with the bulk of Dortmund's creative players currently sidelined by injury, Shinji Kagawa is the sole creative conduit for this side's offense. Matched up against the young and talented Oriol Romeu (on loan from Chelsea), if Dortmund hope to generate the type of dynamic offense we've grown accustomed to seeing in the last few years, they'll need Kagawa to run circles around the Stuttgart defensive midfielder.
Borussia Dortmund injuries and suspensions
Out: Jakub Blasczykowski (muscle tear), Ilkay Gundogan (fitness), Oliver Kirch (thigh), Henrik Mkhitaryan (ankle), Marco Reus (ankle), Nuri Sahin (knee) In doubt:None.
VfB Stuttgart injuries and suspensions
Out: Mohammed Abdellaoue (rehab), Daniel Ginczek (rehab), Alexandru Maxim (flu). In doubt:
With the exception of Oliver Kirch, every single Borussia Dortmund injury is to one of their creative players. Nuri Sahin and Ilkay Gundogan are Dortmund's most creative deep lying playmakers while Marco Reus and Henrik Mkhitaryan are two of the Bundesliga's very best attacking playmakers. Toss the injury to Jakub Blazczykowski on the pile for good measure and you have the recipe to really test Borussia Dortmund's depth.
Match Date/Time: Sunday, 8 pm local, 2 pm ET
Venue: Signal Iduna Park, Dortmund, Germany
TV: My German TV+ (USA), BT Sport 2 (UK), Sky Bundesliga 3 (U.K.)
Online: Sky Go (Germany)
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