Kawasaki Frontale vs. Borussia Dortmund: Team News, Preview & TV Info

Borussia Dortmund will begin their pre-season tour of Asia with a friendly match against Japanese side Kawasaki Frontale on Tuesday.

The match will kick off a six-day tour around the Far East, which will see the German side travel to Japan, Singapore and Malaysia.

With his first season in charge of the club rapidly approaching, new manager Thomas Tuchel will be hoping to make the most of the glamour matches by getting his team fighting fit ahead of more competitive fixtures.

Although the clash with Kawasaki was sold out within 48 hours of tickets going on sale, it’s unlikely that Tuchel’s will start with a full-strength side or stick with any particular tactic or system for the entire match.

Date: Tuesday, July 7

Time: 11 a.m. BST, 6 a.m. ET

Venue: Todoroki Athletics Stadium, Kawasaki, Japan

Television: Not available

Streaming: Not available

Predicted Lineup

The only injury the club have confirmed of late is that of Jakub Blaszczykowski, who has stayed in Germany to heal a muscular problem.

Because of the nature of the game, any suggestions or hints as to how Tuchel will lineup his side are based almost entirely on speculation and educated guesses.

There will be high hopes among fans of the Black and Yellows that Tuchel will start new goalkeeper Roman Burki behind a back line consisting of Erik Durm at right-back and Jeremy Dudziak at left-back and Neven Subotic and Mats Hummels in their usual roles in the middle of defence.

Martin Meissner/Associated Press

Similarly, fans will hope to see new central midfielder Gonzalo Castro in the centre of the park from the very start, preferably alongside Sven Bender or Ilkay Gundogan.

The attacking midfield will surely consist of Japan international Shinji Kagawa alongside Marco Reus on one wing and either Kevin Kampl or Henrikh Mkhitaryan on the other. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang will likely lead the line from his lone-striker role.

Key Player: Gonzalo Castro

Although the local fans will be cheering on Kagawa and the goals will almost certainly come from Reus and Aubameyang, fans back in Germany will be keeping their eyes peeled for what Castro can do in clash.

The former Bayer Leverkusen midfielder represents a smart signing this summer and will hope to hit the ground running at Dortmund. 

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