UEFA Champions League 2016/17: Five things to watch out for in this week's Champions League fixtures

#2 Borussia Dortmund will be hoping for a turn of fortunes

BVB will be hoping for a repeat of the performance that saw them beat Sporting 2-1 in their previous encounter

Borussia Dortmund will be eyeing an early qualification for the UEFA Champions League knockout stages as they host Sporting Clube de Portugal on matchday four. Thomas Tuchel's men sit on top of Group F, level on seven points with Real Madrid.

Dortmund have gone four Bundesliga games without a win following a 0-0 draw in Saturday's Ruhr derby against FC Schalke. They overcame second-tier FC Union Berlin 3-0 on penalties, after a 1-1 draw, in the second round of the DFB cup in last week’s mid-week fixture.

FIFA Ballon d’Or shortlisted candidate Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who scored in Dortmund’s 2-1 win against Sporting in the reverse fixture, returned against Schalke after missing the DFB Cup game due to a calf injury. Raphael Guerreiro and Andre Schurrle also returned over the weekend and could feature against Sporting.

After a series of underwhelming results, BVB will be looking to turn things around with a victory against the Portuguese team and secure qualification for the next round.