Guirassy back on target, Dortmund eye top spot

Borussia Dortmund can move provisionally to the top of the Bundesliga when they host Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday 24 October. Kick-off is at 16:30 UTC, or 17:30 in Brazzaville. After returning to winning ways in Europe, Serhou Guirassy and his teammates now need to end a run of two league draws. Follow confirmed line-ups and the live score in the Dortmund–Frankfurt match centre.

Serhou Guirassy scored both goals as Dortmund beat Sabah 2–1 in Baku on Tuesday. The result ended a three-match winless spell across all competitions. The Guinea striker provided the decisive finishing; the next test is whether the team can sustain the recovery.

In the Bundesliga, a 2–2 draw with Bremen and a goalless game at Union Berlin slowed an opening run of four wins. Dortmund reached fourteen points from six matches, level with Bayern Munich. Victory over Frankfurt would take them to seventeen before Bayern visit Freiburg on Sunday. Track the changing position through the SNA Bundesliga table.

Dortmund’s foundation remains their defence: four goals conceded and four clean sheets in their first six league games. That record adds another dimension to a meeting between teams with different recovery schedules. BVB have travelled to Baku this week; Frankfurt have had no European fixture.

Niko Kovac said on Friday that the players who had travelled came through the match without a new injury. That does not mean every squad member is available, or that the effects of the trip have disappeared. The intensity of Dortmund’s opening passages and their ability to retain possession after winning it back will offer useful clues to their energy levels.

Eintracht beat Cologne 1–0 last time out, following a 6–0 defeat at Leipzig. Their six-game league record remains mixed: two wins, two draws and two defeats. Sixteen goals conceded explain why improving protection around their own penalty area mattered so much against Cologne.

Dortmund will want to test those weaknesses early. Yet judging Frankfurt only by the Leipzig defeat would ignore the response that followed. The contest around Guirassy will depend on more than deliveries into the box: BVB must also stop failed attacks from becoming open space for their opponents.

Guirassy naturally draws attention after his European double. A more convincing sign of collective progress would be to supply him regularly rather than rely on him to decide difficult passages alone. At home, Dortmund need attacking pressure without losing control behind the ball. Frankfurt want their defensive recovery to last; BVB want the win in Baku to become a new run in the league.