Dortmund's Unbeaten Run Faces Frankfurt's Chaotic Threat at Signal Iduna Park
SportSignals Match Desk · Football analysis desk ·
Let me tell you what this fixture is. It is a test of Borussia Dortmund's desire to keep a good thing going against a Frankfurt side that has absolutely no idea what version of themselves is going to turn up. That is not a compliment to Frankfurt. That is a problem.
Dortmund: Solid, But Not Ruthless
The thing is, Dortmund's recent Bundesliga form is built on competing properly. Three wins and two draws across their last five completed Bundesliga matches. Nine goals scored, four conceded. They have kept three clean sheets in that sample. That is a team doing the basics right.
Listen, two of those five matches ended in draws. Dortmund drew 0-0 with Union Berlin on 17 October and drew 2-2 with Werder Bremen on 9 October. Before that, wins over Stuttgart, Paderborn, and Hoffenheim. They are unbeaten. But they are not blowing teams away consistently. A 1-0 against Stuttgart tells you something. They are winning ugly at times. That is fine. Winning ugly is still winning.
The injury situation at Dortmund needs mentioning. They are carrying a suspended player, a long-term absentee who has been out since March, a moderate injury absence since September, and several minor concerns. That is a depleted squad going into a home fixture they are expected to win. Attitude and accountability from whoever steps in will matter.
Frankfurt: Capable of Anything, Including Disaster
Eintracht Frankfurt are a proper handful to assess. Two wins, one draw, two losses in their last five Bundesliga matches. Seven goals scored. Thirteen conceded. You read that right. Thirteen goals against in five games.
Frankfurt beat Köln 1-0 on 16 October. Then look back two weeks before that. RB Leipzig beat Frankfurt 6-0 on 10 October. Six goals. Frankfurt also lost 4-1 to Augsburg earlier in the sample. The desire to defend as a unit, the accountability at the back, it is simply not there consistently. A team that ships thirteen in five has a structural problem, not a bad luck problem.
They have one minor injury concern listed in the data. So they have no real excuse on that front.
Head to Head
Two Bundesliga meetings on record between these sides in the supplied data. Dortmund have won one and drawn one. Dortmund have scored six goals across those two matches. Frankfurt have scored five. Both games saw both teams score. Average of five and a half goals per game. Over 2.5 goals in both meetings. Clean sheets for neither side in either fixture.
The history says goals. The form says Dortmund defend reasonably well and Frankfurt defend very badly. Those two things point in the same direction.
The Bet
Dortmund to win. One selection. End of.