Borussia Dortmuns vs FC Heidenheim Preview

After a two-week hiatus, the Bundesliga returns this Friday with Borussia Dortmund hosting Heidenheim in the first fixture of Round 3.

Dortmund’s start has been underwhelming so far with one win and a draw from their opening two games against Eintracht Frankfurt (W:2-0) and Werder Bremen (0-0) but the good thing is that they have yet to concede a goal.

However, that could be about to come crashing down around them in this game as they have some historical demons to banish squandering two-goal leads in home games on this matchday in each of the last two seasons (D1, L1). One of those games came against Heidenheim (2-2), which was coincidentally also held on a Friday night in September and after also drawing in the reverse fixture, Heidenheim are the only team Dortmund have played in the top flight but never beaten.

Yet, the Black and Yellow come into this game with a good history in Friday home games. Nuri Sahin’s side are unbeaten in their last 36 Bundesliga home games played on a Friday dating back to January 2004 (W27, D9).

Meanwhile, Heidenheim travel to Dortmund in serious form of their own. The visitors travel to Signal Iduna Park sitting pretty at the German top-flight summit for the first time ever, making them the 35th different club to top the Bundesliga.

A 4-0 win against Augsburg before the international break, their biggest Bundesliga win ever, means that like their hosts, they’re still yet to concede a goal this season after winning both games. The impressive thing is that they are not just good in the Bundesliga alone. Heidnheim have won all their competitive games this season, scoring 2+ goals in each of those games.

Despite their brilliant start to the season, coach Frank Schmidt has continued to keep his foot firmly planted on the ground, insisting they are simply just six points closer to the survival mark. But with his side suffering just one defeat from their last 11 Bundesliga away games (W4, D6), Heidenheim definitely look capable of defying the heavy underdog tag they travel with.

Other fixtures taking place this week in the German Bundesliga:

German Bundesliga Table