SV Darmstadt vs. Borussia Dortmund: Team News, Preview, Live Stream, TV Info
SV Darmstadt host Borussia Dortmund on Matchday 24 of the 2015/16 Bundesliga season on Wednesday.
It's almost like two worlds are colliding at the Merck-Stadion am Bollenfalltor. Darmstadt play a very physical playing style that, quite frankly, isn't very easy on the eye: They know every trick in the book, play very defensively and operate with long balls more than any other team in the league.
Dortmund, on the other hand, are one of the most attractive teams in European football, although their goal tally has gone down in the second half of the season: After scoring 2.76 goals per league game in the first 17 matches, they've scored 10 in six since the turn of the year.
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Practically no one gave Darmstadt a fighting chance after their promotion to the top flight before the season, but they have yet to end a matchday in a relegation spot. As the graphic from sport magazine Reviersport (link in German) shows, the Lilies have never been worse than 14th all season, which is where they currently sit.
Dortmund, meanwhile, remain firmly entrenched in second place, eight points behind Bayern Munich and a whopping 15 ahead of Hertha BSC. The Black and Yellows are enjoying an impressive season, as this tweet from BT Sport's Archie Rhind-Tutt from the weekend illustrates:
With the visit of Bayern scheduled for Saturday, however, it'll be interesting to see whether head coach Thomas Tuchel can get his players motivated for a meeting with feisty Darmstadt.
Wednesday's hosts are the only team to hold Dortmund to a draw at Signal Iduna Park this season, as the previous meeting ended 2-2.
However, Darmstadt have claimed 18 of their 25 points away from home, winning just one match at the Bollenfalltor in the entire campaign—a 2-1 victory over Werder Bremen in September.
Date: Wednesday, March 2
Time: 7:00 p.m. GMT/2:00 p.m. ET/8:00 p.m. local time
Venue: Merck-Stadion am Bollenfalltor, Darmstadt
TV Info: BT Sport ESPN (UK only)
Live Stream: BT Sport live streaming (UK only)/Fox Soccer 2Go (U.S. only)
Form Guide
| Darmstadt | Dortmund |
| Schalke: Loss (2-0) | Hannover: Win (1-0) |
| Hoffenheim: Win (2-0) | Porto: Win (2-0) |
| Leverkusen: Loss (2-1) | Leverkusen: Win (1-0) |
| Bayern: Loss (3-1) | Porto: Win (1-0) |
| Bremen: Draw (2-2) | Hoffenheim: Win (3-1) |
Predicted Lineups
Darmstadt
Right-back Gyorgy Garics is the only likely absentee, the Austrian is suffering from a knee problem. His spot is up for grabs between Florian Jungwirth and Sandro Sirigu.
Other than that, head coach Dirk Schuster trusts a lineup that doesn't undergo a lot of changes: Per Transfermarkt.co.uk, no fewer than seven players have played in at least 22 of the 23 Bundesliga matches of the season so far.
There's nothing to suggest Darmstadt will suddenly start rotating their squad.
Predicted Starting XI: Mathenia; Jungwirth, Sulu, Rajkovic, Caldirola; Niemeyer, Gondorf; Heller, Rosenthal, Rausch; Wagner.
Dortmund
Unlike the hosts, Dortmund are in a brutal part of the schedule and therefore likely to make some changes in order to keep players with a lot of mileage fresh for the Bayern game and those who haven't played a lot recently happy.
With the game likely to be a physical battle in difficult conditions—the pitch looks more like productive land than an actual football field—Tuchel could opt for athleticism over technical ability.
Matthias Ginter, for example, could start in defensive midfield over Julian Weigl, while Gonzalo Castro could get the nod over Shinji Kagawa.
Ilkay Gundogan, who was so instrumental in the come-from-behind win over 1899 Hoffenheim at the weekend, said after the game that he "was OK but only for between 45 and 60 minutes," per the club's official website, so he'll probably share time with Nuri Sahin, Castro or Moritz Leitner in midfield.
The return of Mats Hummels, meanwhile, will give the visitors a big boost, especially considering the fact that Darmstadt actively avoid seeing much of the ball.
Predicted Starting XI: Burki; Piszczek, Bender, Hummels, Durm; Gundogan, Ginter, Castro; Mkhitaryan, Aubameyang, Reus.
Players to Watch
Darmstadt's Sandro Wagner is one of the in-form strikers in the league, as the tweet from stat provider Opta from the weekend shows:
The tall and beefy forward isn't exactly skillful, but he gets the job done both in the air and on the ground. In the 2-2 draw with Bremen, he not only won a somewhat questionable penalty, but also calmly converted, showing off the confidence he's built up over the last few weeks.
In his side's long-ball heavy playing style, the 28-year-old is a clear focal point and target man.
As for the visitors, a goal from Marco Reus would complete a collection of sorts. As the club's official website (link in German) pointed out, the Lilies are the only current Bundesliga side the Germany international has yet to score against.
However, since Reus, who captained his side in his 100th league game for the club at the weekend, is always a bit of an injury risk, especially on a bad pitch, he might not even play.
In that case, Gonzalo Castro could be a player to watch. The 28-year-old has fallen off the map in recent weeks and hasn't played in any of the Black and Yellows' last four matches across competitions, so he needs a strong showing to get back in Tuchel's good graces.
Key Battles
Dortmund vs. Darmstadt's Set Pieces
One of the Lilies biggest strengths and a big reason they're playing a surprisingly worry-free campaign so far are their set pieces. Per Dortmund's website, Darmstadt have scored 12 of their 25 league goals following dead balls.
Captain Aytac Sulu has been especially dangerous in those situations, as the tweet from Opta shows:
However, the Turkish defender has scored each of his six goals away from home. Dortmund shouldn't bank on that trend continuing, though.
Despite their improved defensive record in the second half of the season so far—they've conceded just three goals in nine matches across competitions—they've still given away free headers in a number of games.
With Darmstadt's well-documented prowess in that regard, the Black and Yellows have been warned.
How Motivated Will Dortmund be?
With the Bayern game later in the week and the UEFA Europa League round-of-16 tie with Tottenham Hotspur looming large as well, it'd be only natural if some of the Black and Yellows' players found it difficult to get up for a game against Darmstadt that, in the grand scheme of things, is pretty irrelevant.
Even if they beat the Bavarian giants at the weekend, it's still unlikely that there will be a title race; the focus for BVB has shifted, at least to some degree, to the Europa League at this stage of the season.
Dortmund might look at Darmstadt's abysmal record at home and think they can win without going all out, but the fervent Lilies would probably take advantage in a heartbeat.
Odds (via Odds Shark)
Darmstadt: 11-1
Draw: 19-4
Dortmund: 1-4
Lars Pollmann is a Featured Columnist writing on Borussia Dortmund. He also writes for YellowWallPod.com. You can follow him on Twitter.
