Borussia Dortmund vs Hamburg SV Preview : German Bundesliga

German BundesligaMatch: Borussia Dortmund versus Hamburg SVVenue: Signal-Iduna ParkDate: August 5, 2011, Time: 18:30 GMT

Bundesliga 2011-2012 season opens tonight with last season Champions Borussia Dortmund taking on Hamburg SV at home in Signal-Iduna Park which is expected to be a great match with a spectator turnover of nearly 80,000.

Following their last season triumph with a clear 7 points ahead of Bayern Leverkusen, Dortmund this year will face a much tougher challenge to retain their title as they no longer are an unknown quantity. However for the opening match tonight, they are the clear favorites against the team that poorly finished 8 places last season.

Moreover Jurgen Klopp’s side has also defeated Hamburg in the pre season League Cup which will give them a moral edge ahead of the match. Summer recruits Ilkay Gundogan, Ivan Perisic and Chris Lowe are expected to make their top flight debuts for Dortmund after Nuri Sahin and Dede left the club for better prospect.

However Lucas Barrios will be missing the opening tie as he is likely to six out for another few weeks after pulling hamstring while playing the Copa America final last month.

Meanwhile, Hamburg, whose away-form last season was a concern, which was the main reason behind their 8^th place finish, will start their campaign without Ruud Van Nistelrooy, Ze Roberto, Alex Silva, Jonathan Pitroipa, Joris Mathijsen and Piotr Trochowski, who all left the club, which will be a difficult gap to fill.

However new sporting director Frank Arnesen brought with him Jeffrey Bruma, Michael Mancienne, Jacopo Sala and Gokhan Tore from Stamford Bridge, while Per Ciljan Skjelbred also arrived, from Rosenborg with the promise to take Hamburg to a better finish this season.

Moreover, Coach Michael Oenning also faces some injury problem with Tomas Rincon and Paolo Gerrero not fully fit after picking up injury in the Copa America.

It would be an interesting match to start of the league as the defending Champions Dortmund would like to impose their authority and dominance right from game 1 while Hamburg will look to prove their critics wrong and come back strong this season.

Probable Line-Ups:Borussia Dortmund - (4-2-3-1): Weidenfeller – Piszczek, Subotic, Hummels, Schmelzer – Kehl, Gundogan – Gotze, Kagawa, Grosskreutz – Lewandowski.Hamburg SV – (4-2-3-1): Drobny – Diekmeier, Mancienne, Westermann, Jansen – Kacar, Tesche – Tore, Son, Elia – Petric.

Last Five Matches

Borussia Dortmund Hamburg SV

30 Jul 2011 SV Sandhausen 0 – 3 Borussia Dortmund 2 Aug 2011 Hamburger SV 1 – 2 Valencia23 Jul 2011 FC Schalke 04 0 – 0 Borussia Dortmund 30 Jul 2011 VfB Oldenburg 1 – 2 Hamburger SV20 Jul 2011 Borussia Dortmund 2 – 0 Hamburger SV 24 Jul 2011 FC Groningen 0 – 4 Hamburger SV

Head to Head

20 Jul 2011 Borussia Dortmund 2 – 0 Hamburger SV9 Apr 2011 Hamburger SV 1 – 1 Borussia Dortmund12 Nov 2010 Borussia Dortmund 2 – 0 Hamburger SV23 Jan 2010 Borussia Dortmund 1 – 0 Hamburger SV15 Aug 2009 Hamburger SV 4 – 1 Borussia Dortmund