Lucien Favre’s reign at Borussia Dortmund finally gets underway on Monday when he takes charge of his first competitive game against Bundesliga 2 outfit Greuther Fürth in the first round of the DFB Cup (kick-off: 8:45pm CEST/7:45pm BST/2:45pm ET).
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Winners of the 2017 cup, Dortmund’s campaign last season was cut short in the round of 16 by eventual finalists Bayern Munich. They come into their first competitive game of the campaign in good form following pre-season wins over Manchester City, Liverpool and Lazio. With seven new faces in the BVB squad for 2018/19, Favre has some decisions to make on his line-up for this opener. The Swiss coach has confirmed that midfielder Alex Witsel will not start in Fürth despite playing 20 minutes in their final friendly on Sunday. Fellow newcomer Thomas Delaney is therefore likely to get the nod in the centre of the park, as is 22-year-old centre-back Abdou Diallo. Favre has a further dilemma in goal where he has to decide between summer arrival from Augsburg Marwin Hitz or incumbent Roman Bürki.
Fürth have already got their season underway with two matches in Bundesliga 2. The Bavarian outfit currently occupy third place after a win over Sandhausen and a draw at Ingolstadt. Their 15th-place finish in the second tier last year makes them, on paper, the toughest possible draw for Dortmund in this first round. The three-time German champions are without injured captain Marco Caligiuri, the brother of Schalke’s Daniel, but do have the youthful talents of American forward Julian Green and Schalke loanee Fabian Reese. RB Leipzig’s Elias Abouchabaka is also on loan at the Bavarian club.
Probable line-ups
Fürth: Burchert – Hilbert, Maloca, Magyar, Wittek – Gugganig – Reese, Omladic, Green, Ernst – Keita-RuelAbsentees: Caligiuri (muscle)Coach: Damir Buric
Dortmund: Bürki – Piszczek, Toprak, Diallo, Schmelzer – Delaney, Götze – Pulisic, Reus, Sancho – PhilippAbsentees: NoneCoach: Lucien Favre