Bundesliga preview: Dortmund bid to move second

31 January 2013 13:03

Borussia Dortmund will look to overtake second-placed Bayer Leverkusen when the teams meet at BayArena in the Bundesliga on Sunday.

The resurgent champions have made a stellar start to 2013 with two wins from as many matches and eight unanswered goals.

Dortmund thumped Werder Bremen 5-0 in their return from the winter break before accounting for Nuremberg 3-0 at the weekend.

Jurgen Klopp's men are third on the table, one point behind Leverkusen and 12 points behind unwavering leaders Bayern Munich.

Leverkusen were held to a 0-0 stalemate at Freiburg last time out, but boast an impressive record at home, where they have won their past seven matches in all competitions.

Dortmund, however, are stronger on the road than at home this season, claiming 19 of their 36 points away from the Westfalenstadion.

Meanwhile, Bayern will look to strengthen their title credentials when they travel to European hopefuls Mainz on Saturday.

Bayern are the form team of the league with 15 wins from 19 games, while fifth-placed Mainz are gunning for a Champions League place after reaching the Europa League for the first time last season.

Bayern coach Jupp Heynckes said he was unlikely to make any changes for the clash, but called on his regular substitutes to be ready to step up as the knockout stages of the Champions League and German Cup draw nearer.

"At the moment there is no need for big changes. We need to be successful and I will not risk anything," he said.

"The players know I will rotate once we get to the busy weeks where we will be playing Saturday-Wednesday-Saturday."

In other matches, fourth-placed Eintracht Frankfurt journey to Hamburg on Saturday, while Schalke entertain bottom-placed Greuther Furth.

Elsewhere on Saturday, Wolfsburg take on Augsburg at home, Freiburg face a tough test at Hoffenheim and Fortuna Dusseldorf welcome Stuttgart.

Seventh-placed Borussia Monchengladbach visit Nuremburg on Sunday, while Bremen will look to bounce back from two consecutive losses at home to Hannover on Friday.