On Matchday 7 in the 3. Liga, Borussia Dortmund's U23s will play fellow newly promoted side TSV Havelse. Kick-off is at 14:00 CET in the HDI Arena in Hanover.

The town of Havelse is a district of Garbsen, near Hanover. The town has around 5,000 inhabitants, who have been on an interesting journey with their local team TSV in recent years. A year in the Bundesliga 2 in the 90s was followed by several years in the Regionalliga North. But they have never managed to reach the very top in recent years. Last season, TSV had an excellent season in the two-division Regionalliga North, seeing them top of the table in the South division when the season was ended prematurely. As a result, the North German Football Association (NFV) determined that TSV Havelse could participate in the play-offs for promotion to the 3. Liga. The teams for the play-offs were chosen based on how many points the teams in the North and South divisions had accumulated per game played. First, the best performing clubs were determined for two divisions of the Regionalliga North – TSV Havelse for the South division and FC Teutonia 05 Ottensen for the North division. The NFV ultimately decided in favour of TSV Havelse. Havelse came out on top in the play-offs, beating 1. FC Schweinfurt 1-0 in each leg, earning promotion to the 3. Liga.

However, TSV have not managed to win a competitive game since their victory in the final play-off game, losing their first six games in the league and also suffering defeat in the Landespokal. With zero points and a goal difference of -11 (2 goals scored, 13 goals conceded), TSV are bottom of the table. Last time out, coach Rüdiger Ziehl's team lost 0-1 at SV Meppen.

BVB, on the other hand, are heading to Hanover in good form. With eleven points and lying third in the table, coach Enrico Maaßen's team are "right on target," as captain Steffen Tigges said after the Duisburg game. Last weekend, Dortmund's centre-forward found the back of the net for the first time this season – and immediately followed it with a second goal. Unfortunately, BVB fans will now have to wait a little bit for his next goals: the 23-year-old suffered a thigh injury and is out for the time being. Tobi Raschl is also missing due to injury, as are Moritz Broschinski, Marco Hober and Florian Krebs, who have recently come back into training. Luca Unbehaun and Ansgar Knauff, who are away with the U20s national team, are also not in Hanover. Centre-back Lennard Maloney is suspended. However, the last-minute additions Guille Bueno and Christian Viet are with the team for the first time.