Borussia Dortmund will visit Eintracht Frankfurt in their first game of the year. The second half of the 2021/22 Bundesliga campaign will kick off on Saturday evening at 18:30 CET.

The last time BVB lost their first competitive match of a calendar year was 13 years ago – a 2-1 home defeat at the hands of Werder Bremen in the DFB-Pokal round of 16 back in 2009. The aim will be to keep that unbeaten streak going in 2022. "The boys have recovered well, the break was good for the mind. The performance tests and the first training sessions were in order," explained BVB coach Marco Rose following the short winter break.

BVB won the reverse fixture on the opening day of the season last August by a 5-2 scoreline. A Haaland brace plus goals from Reus, Hazard and Reyna sealed victory for the Black & Yellows in an entertaining encounter. But Rose warned: "It'll be a different game to the summer. Frankfurt have clicked more as the months have gone by, they're very stable and work very well off the ball. In addition, their switch-play is outstanding." His expectation: "They will come at us with a lot of power and energy, but a lot of footballing quality as well. They're a good team with good momentum."

The men from Hesse put a good run together before the turn of the year, winning six of their last seven matches as they climbed from 15th place in the table up to sixth. "They have made headlines in recent weeks and rediscovered their stability of old," commented Sebastian Kehl, the head of the licensed player division. "They would have probably preferred the break not to have come. We know that it's going to be a difficult game. Frankfurt are unpleasant opponents."

Due to positive coronavirus tests, Marius Wolf and Dan-Axel Zagadou will not join the travelling party. Long-term injury absentee Giovanni Reyna has resumed some elements of team training. "Things are looking very good, but his performance test shows that he still has some catching-up to do," Rose said. "Hopefully, he will be in contention for short appearances soon. Gio offers us a real goal threat and has a lot of development potential."
Christina Reinke

BVB TV by 1&1: Press conference prior to the Frankfurt game