Elversberg's goals have not travelled since the second matchday
Elversberg have built their first Bundesliga season at home, where they have won three of four and twice scored four. Away they have not scored since the second matchday, and the next trip is to the defence that has conceded fewest in the division.
Elversberg's best away game since Vincent Wagner took over ended 4-0 to Leipzig last month, by his own account. "It could be similar this time," he said, "that we play a new best away game and lose the match again."
The league's tightest defence against a side that has not scored on its travels since the second matchday makes this a comfortable Dortmund win.
At home the newly promoted side have been one of the stories of the season: three wins from four, among them 4-3 against Augsburg and, last week, 4-1 against Mainz, their biggest Bundesliga win. The goals have stayed there. Since winning 4-3 at Mönchengladbach on the second matchday, Elversberg have not scored away: a goalless draw at Schalke, then defeats at Union Berlin and Leipzig. They are seventh with 13 points.
Dortmund are a hard place to change that. They have conceded six goals in eight league games, the fewest in the Bundesliga, and are level with Bayern on 18 points, unbeaten and behind only on goal difference. What they lack is Serhou Guirassy, who strained a thigh against Real Betis on Wednesday. Niko Kovač named Fabio Silva, who has scored in each of the last two games, and Maximilian Beier to fill the space, and Konstantinos Karetsas, 18, came on for Guirassy against Betis and scored the winner.
A Dortmund thread runs through the visitors. Ole Book, Dortmund's sporting director since March, spent eight years at Elversberg, and Cole Campbell, who came through the Dortmund academy, joined them in the summer and scored a stoppage-time volley against Mainz. Around 8,000 supporters are expected to follow, more than half the population of Spiesen-Elversberg. They travel with their coach's own summary: "We have no chance, and as always we will try to make use of it."
