Borussia Dortmund vs. Bayer Leverkusen preview: 2025 officially starts here | OneFootball

Borussia Dortmund

Dortmund went into the winter break on the back of an underwhelming run of for, winning just once in their final five competitive matches of 2024. Nuri Şahin’s side played out 1-1 draws with Bayern Munich and Borussia Mönchengladbach, before they fell to a 3-2 defeat in their Champions League clash with Barcelona. They then followed that result with another 1-1 scoreline in a Bundesliga game against Hoffenheim, leaving them without a win in four matches.

Die Schwarzgelben would have been relieved to end that winless run with a 3-1 away victory over Wolfsburg on December 22. Donyell Malen, Max Beier and Julian Brandt all got on the scoresheet to guide Dortmund to their first Bundesliga away victory since April. Despite claiming three points in that fixture, Dortmund begin 2025 in an underwhelming sixth position, with two points separating them from the top four.

They will head into Friday’s fixture with hopes of extending their 11-game unbeaten home run, which started with a 1-1 draw in April’s home encounter with Leverkusen. That result extended Dortmund’s head-to-head unbeaten run to four matches (W2, D2).

Team News

Waldemar Anton and Almugera Kabar are both doubts due to illness. Dortmund will be unable to call upon the injured Niklas Süle, while Pascal Groß will serve the first game of a two-match suspension after being sent off against Wolfsburg.

Bayer Leverkusen

Leverkusen carried significant momentum into the winter break, putting together a nine-game winning run in all competitions to close out 2024. That impressive run of form features five Bundesliga victories, including a dominant 5-1 win over Freiburg in their final outing of the previous calendar year. Patrik Schick netted four goals alongside a Florian Wirtz effort to extend Leverkusen’s unbeaten run to 13 matches, leaving them in second position and just four points adrift of top spot.

Xabi Alonso’s side are currently the league’s second-highest scorers, having racked up 37 goals in 15 Bundesliga matches. They will hope that firepower can help them break down a Dortmund side that have conceded just eight goals in as many home league games. Having failed to win their last four games against Dortmund, die Werkself are looking to claim a head-to-head victory for the first time since February 2022 when they ran out 5-2 winners at Signal Iduna Park.

Team News

Leverkusen midfielder Granit Xhaka is a doubt for the first outing of 2025. Meanwhile, the visitors will definitely be without Jeanuël Belocian, Amine Adli and Victor Boniface.