Hoffenheim vs Borussia Dortmund: Team News and Form Ahead of Sinsheim Showdown

Borussia Dortmund head to Sinsheim on September 5 with early‑season questions to answer and injuries biting, while Hoffenheim are already fighting to keep their start from sliding into a slump.

Kick-off at the PreZero Arena is set for 14:30 local time.

Hoffenheim: patched up and searching for stability

Christian Ilzer’s plans are at least clear on one front: Alexander Prass is out and won’t feature. Beyond that, the Hoffenheim coach leans on a side that mixes familiar Bundesliga experience with players still trying to nail down their status at this level.

Oliver Baumann is expected to start in goal, the veteran again asked to marshal a back line that has leaked too many goals in recent weeks. In front of him, Ozan Kabak, Albian Hajdari and Bernardo are set to form the core of the defence, with Vladimir Coufal offering thrust and grit on the flank.

The midfield tells the real story of Ilzer’s approach. Bambase Conte and Wouter Burger bring legs and bite, Adam Daghim and Leon Avdullahu provide the link into the final third. On paper it’s balanced; on the pitch, it still needs to prove it can protect a defence that has not managed a single clean sheet in five games.

Up front, Adam Hlozek and Tim Lemperle are tipped to lead the line. Both can drift, both can finish, but they’ll need more than flashes if Hoffenheim are to trouble a Dortmund side that has already shown it can run up a score.

There are no suspensions in the Hoffenheim camp, and any late fitness twists will emerge closer to kick-off. For now, Ilzer knows what he has — and what he doesn’t.

Dortmund: big absences, big expectations

Niko Kovac takes Dortmund south with a squad that looks powerful on paper but is missing several important pieces. The injury list is not short: Nico Schlotterbeck, Emre Can, Giannis Konstantelias, Justin Lerma and Mussa Kaba are all sidelined. Samuele Inacio is suspended.

So the spine shifts. Gregor Kobel remains the undisputed No.1 in goal, but the protection in front of him will look different. Joane Gadou, Daniel Svensson and Waldemar Anton are expected to anchor the back line, with Julian Ryerson adding his usual relentless energy from the flank.

In midfield, Marcel Sabitzer and Felix Nmecha carry the responsibility of controlling tempo and feeding a highly mobile attacking unit. Lose that battle, and Dortmund’s reshaped defence could be exposed. Win it, and the game tilts sharply yellow and black.

Ahead of them, Konstantinos Karetsas, Jobe Bellingham and Maximilian Beier are set to operate behind Serhou Guirassy, a striker who needs little invitation to score. That quartet has pace, movement and goals in it. For Hoffenheim, allowing them time and space would be fatal.

Form guide: one side leaking, the other scoring

Hoffenheim stumble into this fixture with just one win in their last five matches in all competitions: one victory, one draw, three defeats. Seven goals scored, ten conceded. The pattern is obvious.

Their latest outing, a 3-2 Bundesliga loss to Cologne on August 29, underlined the problem. They can hurt teams going forward, but they can’t close the door. The only bright, clean performance in that run came in the DFB-Pokal — a 4-0 win over Erzgebirge Aue — but that stands alone. Friendlies against Tottenham brought a draw and a defeat, and across those five games Hoffenheim have not managed a single shutout.

Dortmund arrive in a very different mood. Three wins, one draw and one defeat from their last five, with 12 goals scored and only seven conceded, tell a story of a side that already has some rhythm.

Their most recent result was a statement: a 5-0 DFB-Pokal demolition of HEBC Hamburg on September 1. Before that, they opened their Bundesliga campaign with a solid 2-0 victory over Hamburger SV on August 29. The only real blemish in this stretch was a 2-1 Super Cup loss to Bayern Munich, wedged between that league win and a 2-2 pre-season draw with Roma.

Dortmund are not flawless. But they are scoring freely and winning more than they’re not. Hoffenheim, by contrast, are still trying to work out who they are.

Head-to-head: tight margins, shared scars

History between these two sides refuses to lean heavily in one direction. The last meeting, on April 18, 2026, went Hoffenheim’s way — a 2-1 Bundesliga win at the SNP Arena that will still sting in Dortmund circles.

Across the last five clashes, Dortmund hold only the narrowest of edges: two wins, two defeats, one draw. Fourteen goals across those games underline what this fixture usually brings — chances, chaos, and very little calm.

Dortmund’s most recent home success in the series came in December 2025, a 2-0 win at Signal Iduna Park. Away in Sinsheim, though, they have been made to work for everything.

The table and the tension

The Bundesliga standings add an extra layer of urgency. Hoffenheim sit 14th, already looking over their shoulder rather than up the table. Dortmund are fifth, within striking distance of the early leaders but with no room for complacency.

For Ilzer, this is the kind of home match that can steady a season or deepen the anxiety around it. For Kovac, it’s a test of depth, resilience and whether Dortmund can turn promising form into a sustained push.

The injuries, the form lines, the recent history — it all points to a game that could swing on a single spell of pressure, a single lapse, a single burst from Guirassy or Hlozek.

In a league where momentum can vanish in a week, which of these two sides will still like the look of the table when the final whistle goes in Sinsheim?