The corner has been turned: having racked up two victories in a row, Borussia Dortmund's U23s are finishing the year with a flourish. Following their dominant win in Bonn and their focused display in Essen, the Black and Yellows currently have 28 points from 16 matches.

Although the season has technically entered the Rückrunde – the German term for the second half of the season – the Black & Yellows still have two games in hand to play.

In what marks the start of a fixture-laden week for the U23s, they travel to the Sportclub-Arena on Saturday afternoon to play the first of those: their postponed Matchday 6 clash with SC Verl. It is expected to be a tough test against the East Westphalians, who currently occupy ninth spot in the Regionalliga West table and are still unbeaten in front of their own fans this term. They haven't lost on the road over the course of the last few weeks either.

Coach Guerino Capretti's charges last tasted defeat in Wuppertal at the beginning of September. Since then, though, their results have included some heavy victories and a number of draws – they have now shared the spoils with their opponents on nine occasions this season. Their last meeting with Borussia also ended in stalemate, with the sides drawing 0-0 in April 2017. But BVB will have no intention of playing for a draw in Verl. They will go into this one high on confidence from their last two games and aiming to take all three points at the Sportclub-Arena. Kick-off is at 14:00 CET.
Timo Lammert