Will New Manager Make the Difference for Dortmund?

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This week sees a full round of Bundesliga fixtures and the pick of the action on Tuesday night is the game between Mainz and Borussia Dortmund.

The fact Mainz are down in 14th place in the league yet a win will see them close the gap on the visitors to just 3 points, tells you everything you need to know about Borussia Dortmund this season.

Big things were expected of a squad which is full of attacking talent but former Ajax manager Peter Bosz could not get the best out of his players and a string of poor results this season saw him lose his job this week.

The new man in charge is Peter Stoger, an Austrian manager whose last job was at Koln.  Stoger guided Koln to promotion the season before last and they finished fifth in the Bundesliga last season.  Will he start his reign at Borussia Dortmund with a win on Tuesday night?

Mainz come into this match having held second place RB Leipzig to a 2-2 draw away from home at the weekend.

It was an important result for Mainz who had previously tasted two straight defeats in the Bundesliga, one at Freiburg and one at home to Augsburg.  The fact Mainz twice came from behind in the match at Leipzig shows their character.

Borussia Dortmund make the trip to the Opel Arena having won only one of their last thirteen games in all competitions.

There have been some truly incredible matches and results, with the 4-4 home draw against Schalke the pick of recent games.  Borussia Dortmund were 4-0 up and cruising only to allow Schalke back into the game to take a point.

You must go back to the end of September to find the last time Borussia Dortmund won a match in the Bundesliga and they have picked up just 3 points from the last 24 available, which is a very poor record.

Away from home, Borussia Dortmund have failed to keep a clean sheet in their last five Bundesliga games but have also found the back of the net themselves in each of their last six league games on the road.

Team News and Mainz have an extensive injury list with Rene Adler and Karim Onisiwo both out injured.  There are also doubts over several other players including Daniel Brosinski, Yoshinori Muto, Stefan Bell, Levin Oztunali and Kenan Kodro.

Borussia Dortmund have bene troubled by injury all season and will be without Marco Reus, Erik Durm, Sebatsian Rode, Lukasz Piszczek, Gonzalo Castro, Mario Gotze and Max Philipp.

Considering both teams have scored in six of Mainz’s last seven games, we should be in for plenty of chances at both ends of the pitch in this game so don’t be surprised to see both teams scoring in a draw.