Hannover 96 vs Borussia Dortmund Preview: Classic Encounter, Key Battles, Team News & More
Borussia Dortmund will embark on a 300-mile journey on Friday night as they face Hannover 96 in the Bundesliga, and will be looking to keep their perfect start to the season going.
Wins for Die Borussen in the DFB Pokal and in the Bundesliga got the ball rolling for the eight-time German league winners.
The newly-appointed manager Lucien Favre will be looking at this affair with great optimism after his side clipped the wings of RB Leipzig last weekend in emphatic style.
Here's everything you need to know ahead of this Friday's Bundesliga encounter...
Classic Encounter
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Hannover 96 4-2 Borussia Dortmund (28th October 2017, Bundesliga)
The same fixture last season saw the beginning of the end for coach Peter Bosz. After a dismal result for the Yellow-Blacks at the HDI-Arena he was later given his marching orders.
Hannover 96 manager Andre Breitenreiter got his first win over Dortmund as a coach in fantastic style. A brace from Ihlas Bebou, and goals from Jonathas from the spot and Felix Klaus, capped off a wonderful display from the newly-promoted side and capitalised on the visitor's slow start to the campaign.
Dan-Axel Zagadou managed to equalise for the away side before eventually seeing a red card for bringing down Jonathas through on goal, and Andriy Yarmolenko levelled the scoring yet again. However by the end of the match they let the game get away from them with some schoolboy defending and goalkeeping from Roman Burki that left a lot to be desired.
Key Battle
Ihlas Bebou vs Manuel Akanji
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If Lucien Favre's side want to avoid getting any egg on their face, centre-back Manuel Akanji will have the difficult task of containing the talented forward Ihlas Bebou, who Dortmund will be very familiar with after the damage he inflicted on them last season.
The Togolese striker will have fond memories of last season and will have a big say on his side's potential fortunes. His direct opponent Akanji played impeccably alongside Abdou Diallo who may be forced to double mark the Hannover striker if push comes to shove.
Dortmund have been unpredictable defensively in recent memory but with the season still young, it's a mystery as to what kind of side will turn up for Die Borussen.
Team News
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The dominating news coming out of the Signal Iduna Park is that Paco Alcacer could be in contention to feature against Hannover as he took part in this first full training session on Wednesday.
The midfielder signed on a season-long loan from Barcelona and will bring creative freedom in buckets to Lucien Favre's team.
The former Nice manager has Omer Toprak as his only injury concern as the Yellow-Blacks will go into Friday's game at full strength.
Predicted Lineup
Starting XI: Burki, Piszczek, Akanji, Diallo, Schmelzer, Witsel, Delaney, Dahoud, Sancho, Philipp, Reus.
Prediction
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Dortmund's defensive unpredictability will be a decisive factor as Lucien Favre admitted after the RB Leipzig game that his side had to play better than they did.
The Swiss chief was brought in with an experienced Bundesliga resume, managing the likes of Hertha Berlin and Borussia Monchengladbach. If Dortmund can stop the threat of lhlas Bebou, Die Borussen will fare well.
Prediction: Hannover 96 1-2 Borussia Dortmund
