Dortmund should win this with ease.
Finally. I can't wait any longer! Bundesliga starts for us with a cracking home match. Dortmund - HSV, always a prestigious match. After the opening ceremony with flag-waving and confetti involved, the Südtribüne will finally come to live again and hammer their chants towards the pitch. Jürgen Klopp will troll around at the sideline and Götze and Kagawa are ready to entertain! Yes, Bundesliga, we missed you! And we are gald that your are back!
Preseason has shown that Dortmund is in a really good shape, meanwhile many other Bundesliga teams are still struggling. Still not everything is perfect yet, Barrios is injured for at least 6 weeks, Schmelzer will miss at least the first game and also Bender missed a lot of the preparation. Luckily we can replace Marcel Schmelzerwith Chris Löwe, who really managed to impress everyone (Jürgen Klopp & co. including) in test matches. His teammates were often looking for him on the left side and not afraid to give him the ball. He had good games at the Supercup and the DfBCup. Löwe will need a bit more support in defense, which Kevin Großkreutz can provide, but his runs forward and his
crosses are pretty great. Chris Also has a great shot, would be funny if he managed to score his first Bundesliga goal, since Marcel Schmelzer is still waiting for his.
Also there is still no decision whether Bender or Kehl will start in Hamburg, but either way I'm not unhappy.
This is the first match under competitive Bundesliga conditions and now it really counts. I hope we don't waste too many chances and get a good first match, with a dominant win to gain a flow that takes us through the season.
If we lose 2-0 only to comeback and win the last 16 matches of the hinrunde, I'm okay with that.
Probable line up against HSV:
I'm really looking forward to Ivan Perisic's debut, who will probably come on for Kevin Großkreutz after 65 minutes. Perisic managed to impress me during preseason with his physical appearance. Perisic is a bigger goal threat than Kevin Großkreutz and will probably score some deciding goals coming on as a joker.
HSV fans only smile when they discover themselves on the video wall
Usually this is the point where I point out the strengths of a team, but I've watched all recent HSV matches and I found none. Of course, they've got lots of individual skill, especially in their offense.
But Hamburg has to worry about their defense at the moment. Westermann is captian, good joke, I know!
Mancienne showed that he is a good kid, but he needs guidance. Something Westermann can't provide since he is too busy with himself, standing too far away from opponents.
But it's not only the defensive line that leaves wide gaps, it's also the gap between the back four and the two defensive midfielders. It was very easy to spot that HSV lack structure in their defensive and composure in their offensive attempts. If it wasn't enough they seem to lack team spirit and often look quite demotivated on the pitch. In one sentence: Hamburg looks pathetic. But maybe 80k ppl will bring their winner-side out, who knows?
Before you say anything, yes Hamburg are in times of renewal and of course they won't be at their best. But Hamburg has a exciting team and there can grow something, but that needs time. The Game is on Friday. :)
So how will Hamburg play?
Probable line up:
they will try to park the bus in Dortmund.
Actually they don't have much of a choice, if they try to play as they did vs Valencia they won't have much of a chance.
Oenning will bring Töre on Friday, he was the only one who managed to vitalize a poor Hamburger side.
I'm really sure though that Son will have a great season and score many goals and maybe provide assists, since he is now in the play making role, he has a great first touch and good finishing qualities, but I'm not so sure about his distribution skills. We'll see about that. Also Guerrero will come back with an impact on their Hamburg after a great Copa America, but luckily that won't be the case on Friday :)
Pep talk
I discovered that Hamburg is really vulnerable when their opponents are using the Zorro-tactic.
Which is excellent news, since Dortmund is training that very often and have scored many goals that way last season. Also against Hamburg last season.
Valencia tried that tactic 4-5 times and they created a good chance every single time.
You can check out here, how that looks like in reality:
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