Bundesliga: Can BVB Break the Hoffenheim Hoodoo?

TSG Hoffenheim vs Borussia Dortmund

The early jostling for positions at the top of the Bundesliga is back on this weekend when Borussia Dortmund head to Hoffenheim in search of a victory.

Lucien Favre’s team will start as favourite to take all three points away from the Pre-Zero Arena on Saturday afternoon, but they haven’t had the best of times against TSG in recent years, while both sides have started similarly well in the 2020/21 competition.

TSG Hoffenheim and Borussia Dortmund are one of a group of four clubs which are just a point behind the leaders, alongside Bayern Munich and Werder Bremen. It’s no surprise, given the depth of talent in their squad that the Bundesliga 2020 betting odds once again hold BVB up as the most likely team to take the league title away from FC Bayern, at odds of around 8.00. Meanwhile, Hoffenheim are expected to be pressing for a European place once again.

Favre will be under no illusion how difficult a task his team has on Saturday.

Talking Points

Kramaric can cut it with the best

Hoffenheim have a lethal weapon in the shape of Croatian hit man Andrej Kramaric. The former Leicester City striker has a better than one goal in two ratio since joining Die Kraichgauer back in 2016. He has scored 63 goals in 120 games, including six already this season, which puts Krameric at the top of the Bundesliga scorers list, one ahead of Bayern’s Robert Lewandowski and two more than BVB’s Erling Braut Haaland.

Hoffenheim are unbeaten in their last five Bundesliga games against Borussia Dortmund with 3 wins and 2 draws — Andrej Kramaric celebrates scoring their third goal against Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich

Only Lewandowski has taken more shots than Krameric’s 17 and he’s sure to give the Dortmund defensive unit a hard time, as he did the last time the two teams met in June, when he scored four.

And Sebastian Hoeness’s side stunned champions FC Bayern recently with a 4-1 shock win, to show the rest of the Bundesliga that Hansi Flick’s champions are human after all. Krameric was on target twice after defender Ermin Bicaksic and Israel striker Moanes Dabbur had given Hoffenheim a two goal lead. That was, without doubt, one of the big Bundesliga 2020 results of the season and serves as a warning to the rest of the league that TSG can beat anyone on their day.

Have Borussia discovered the new Pulisic?

After starting the season with an impressive victory over Borussia Monchengladbach, Dortmund stuttered to defeat against Augsburg, and then head coach Favre got a big reaction from his side when they beat Freiburg 4-0 last time out. 17 year old US star Giovanni Reyna put in a man-of-the-match performance, making three assists and drawing comparisons with the last megastar who arrived in Dortmund from the United States, some four years ago…Christian Pulisic.

Well, it’s too early to say and probably a little unfair to heap such pressure on the young man’s shoulders, but as well as ripping Freiburg apart Reyna scored on the opening day of the season against Die Fohlen. He made 15 league appearances last season, mainly from the bench, but he’s started all three matches so far in this campaign and is happy to fight for his place alongside the likes of Marco Reus and Jadon Sancho, though attacking midfielder Thorgan Hazard remains sidelined with injury.

Among Borussia’s young guns 20 year old Erling Braut Haaland already has four goals, to make it 21 from 23 appearances for Die Schwarzgelben.

History

Rising from the fifth tier of German football, where they sat in 2000, Hoffenheim won promotion in 2008 and have predominantly been a top ten side since, qualifying for the Champions League in 2017 and 2018, and finishing strongly in sixth place last season.

In that time Dortmund have won the Bundesliga and DFK Pokal Cup twice, but the two teams have pretty much shared the spoils in their 26 meetings over the past 12 seasons. BVB have won ten of the clashes to Hoffenheim’s seven, and there have been nine draws. But recently TSG have had plenty of joy against their more illustrious opponents.

The 0-4 thumping at the Signal Iduna Park back in June, on the final day of the 2019/20 season, will serve as a painful reminder to BVB just how dangerous Hoffenheim, and particularly Kramaric can be.

TSG did the double over BVB last season, winning 2-1 at home and they are unbeaten against these opponents in seven matches at the Pre-Zero Arena.

Betting Tip

	TSG Hoffenheim vs Borussia Dortmund	First Half Over 1.50 @ 2.16
	October 17, 21:30 (GMT+8)

BVB are at odds of 1.72 to break the hoodoo and TSG Hoffenheim are at 3.73 to win, here at SBOTOP, with the draw at 3.98; while 1-2 is the most likely score line at 7.33.

But with a lethal striker on each side I expect there to be goals; and a fast and attacking start to this game.