Christian Pulisic takes to the stage as Borussia Dortmund host RB Leipzig in the final Bundesliga fixture of the opening weekend of the 2018/19 season on Sunday (kick-off: 6:00 PM CEST/4PM GMT/12:00 ET).
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The Dortmund landscape has shifted significantly ahead of Pulisic's third full season of Bundsliga football. Last term's topsy-turvy performances, although enough to salvage a fourth-placed finish, have prompted wholesale changes, with Lucien Favre coming in as a head coach and a raft of new players, including Achraf Hakimi, Thomas Delaney, Axel Witsel and Marius Wolf, joining the club during the summer. Roman Bürki looks set to be Favre's first-choice goalkeeper, despite the arrival of Marwin Hitz, while Jadon Sancho could have earned himself a start against Leipzig after his impressive performance from the bench in Dortmund's extra-time win over Greuther Fürth in the first round of the DFB Cup on Monday. Jacob Bruun Larsen is the only absentee.
Leipzig also begin 2018/10 with with a new coach, but their man is one who knows more about the club than most. Sporting director Ralf Rangnick has switched roles for the 2018/19 season, before Hoffenheim coach Julian Nagelsmann takes charge next summer. Although Leipzig ultimately missed out on a second successive top-four finish, they were the team to snap Dortmund's record-breaking 41-match unbeaten home run when they won 3-2 at the Signal Iduna Park in October. With lethal striker Timo Werner back in training and his team already in the competitive groove thanks to a series of UEFA Europa League qualifiers, Die Roten Bullen could once again cause BVB problems. Rangnick's troupe are in action on Thursday, however, in the first leg of their Europa League play-off tie against Zorya Luhansk.
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Probable line-ups
Dortmund: Bürki - Piszczek, Akanji, Diallo, Schmelzer - Delaney, Witsel - Pulisic, Reus (c), Sancho - PhilippAbsentees: Bruun Larsen (foot)Coach: Lucien Favre
Leipzig:Gulacsi - Klostermann, Orban (c), Upamecano, Saracchi - Demme, Kampl - Bruma, Forsberg - Werner, PoulsenAbsentees: Halstenberg (cruciate ligament)Coach: Ralf Rangnick