Jadon Sancho and Paco Alcacer will turn Borussia Dortmund's formidable firepower on Freiburg on Saturday as the league's pacesetters bid to strengthen their grip on top spot in the table (kick-off 3:30 p.m. CET/2:30 p.m. GMT/9:30 a.m. ET).
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The only unbeaten team in the division, Dortmund have opened up a four-point gap over the chasing pack with a trio of successive wins, even if their 2-1 Matchday 12 victory at Mainz was anything but straightforward. Lucien Favre's men have struck 35 times this term — an average of nearly three goals a game — and with only Marcel Schmelzer unavailable, BVB will start red-hot favourites to make it four league wins from four when they step out at the Signal Iduna Park.
The way Mainz troubled the league leaders will give Freiburg hope though. They may have won just once in their last seven league games, but that was an impressive victory against Borussia Mönchengladbach on Matchday 9, and they have also drawn with Bayer Leverkusen, Bayern Munich and Werder Bremen in that run, losing only twice. "It's a lot of fun to play against such teams," replied the south-westerners' Germany U21 forward Luca Waldschmidt. "We got a point in Munich. Why shouldn't we also get something from Dortmund?"
Match stats
Alcacer is joint-top of the scoring charts on nine goals, eight have which have come as a substitute.
Sancho has a joint-league-leading six assists so far this season.
Reus trails Alcacer by just a goal in 2018/19, but against Mainz, also grabbed his fifth assist of the season. Only Haller (15) has had a hand in more goals than the Dortmund captain (13) this season.
Freiburg have drawn a Bundesliga-high five of their 12 matches this season.
Christian Streich has lost nine of his 11 meetings with Dortmund as Freiburg coach, drawing the other two. The 5-0 defeat in September 2013 was the heaviest of his Bundesliga career.
Waldschmidt is Freiburg's top scorer in 2018/19 with three goals. Jerome Gondorf, Lucas Höler, Petersen and Rolland Sallai are all on two.
Probable line-ups
Dortmund: Bürki - Piszczek, Akanji, Zagadou, Hakimi - Witsel, Delaney - Sancho, Reus (c), Bruun Larsen – Götze
Absentees: Schmelzer (knee)
Coach: Lucien Favre
Freiburg: Schwolow – Stenzel, Gulde, Heintz, Günter (c) – Koch, Gondorf - Terrazzino, Haberer – Petersen, Waldschmidt
Absentees: Borello (cruciate ligament), Höfler (knee), Kath (stomach), Sallai (groin)
Coach: Christian Streich