SC Paderborn will BVB’s 49th different opponent in the Bundesliga. Can the Black and Yellows win this maiden meeting and repeat the feat they accomplished against Augsburg, Cottbus, Freiburg and Fürth? “Looking at the table, we will not go into this game as favourites,” said Jürgen Klopp in the build-up to Saturday’s Bundesliga match at the small, but tidy Benteler Arena.

“I have the highest respect for everything that is happening over there,” said Borussia Dortmund’s coach about the Bundesliga new boys from Eastern Westphalia. “We know it’s going to be a tough match, but we also know what opportunity this game presents for us.”

Subotic and Ginten to play as centre-backs

Six places and five points separate both clubs as they go into the 13th game of the season.  Klopp urged his side “to show stability and be as awkward an opponent as possible,” but he will have to do without central defenders Mats Hummels and Sokratis, who is both injured and suspended, with Neven Subotic and Matthias Ginter taking the two places. Their job will be to keep the defence solid and help the team in their quest for the second clean sheet in the Bundesliga this season. Ginter, the new-signing from Freiburg (“A young, highly-talented player”), has the confidence of the coach who said about him, “It was the wrong time. Matthias came in the team when it wasn’t stable.”

Slowly but gradually, this team seems to be returning to form and winning ways. Against Paderborn, Klopp wants his side to pick up where they left off in “the last two and a half very good games”, referring to first half at Bayern and the two home wins over Galatasaray and Mönchengladbach.

As history shows, it’s not going to be a walk in the park. In their only competitive tie against Paderborn to date in October 1985, BVB had to fight back from 2-0 down to win 4-2 in DFB Cup match.

“Tactical discipline, creativity and pace“

“Paderborn are a good example that you can achieve something in football with little money, a good idea and the right people making the right decisions,” said Klopp, adding that the Bundesliga new boys are playing some fine transition football mixed with “tactical discipline, creativity and pace.” Having 10 different scorers this season, a league best, is an example of their unpredictability, and despite their hard-working style, Paderborn are capable of upping the tempo after the break, scoring 75 percent of their goals in the second half, with six coming in last 15 minutes.

Paderborn have made a name for themselves for their long-range shooting skills which already helped them win promotion last year. This season, they have scored four goals from distance, including a record-breaking one. “It’s probably the most spectacular goal ever scored in the Bundesliga,” said Klopp about Moritz Stoppelkamp’s 80-metre strike against Hannover 96.

Borussia Dortmund will be eager to avoid getting caught off guard - neither from distance nor from anywhere else…