Borussia Dortmund vs. RB Leipzig: CONFIRMED teams, match stats ...

Can Jude Bellingham (l) and Borussia Dortmund continue their winning run when Christopher Nkunku (r.) and RB Leipzig come to town? - © 2023 DFL

Can Jude Bellingham (l) and Borussia Dortmund continue their winning run when Christopher Nkunku (r.) and RB Leipzig come to town? - © 2023 DFL

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Jude Bellingham and Borussia Dortmund have Christopher Nkunku and RB Leipzig to contend with as they bid to continue their winning start to 2023 in the Matchday 23 opener on Friday (kick-off: 8.30pm CET).

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The stats don't lie when it comes to Dortmund, who have been positively motoring since the start of the New Year. Victory over Hoffenheim last weekend was their ninth win on the bounce in all competitions in 2023, including seven successive Bundesliga victories. It briefly took Dortmund above Bayern Munich and into first-place, with just goal-difference now separating the top-two following Bayern's victory over Union Berlin. There are a number of reasons for their success, chief among them being Matchday 22 match-winner, Julian Brandt. The Germany international is in the form of his life and his goalscoring exploits in recent weeks have certainly eased the burden of losing both Karim Adeyemi and Youssoufa Moukoko through injury. There is good news on the injury front in the form of Julian Ryerson recovering from a knock to start. He comes in at the expense of left-back Raphael Guerreiro, while central midfielder Salih Özcan replaces attacking winger Jamie Bynoe-Gittens. An injury to goalkeeper Gregor Kobel in the warm-up then saw Alexander Meyer come in as a very late replacement.

Leipzig are in fine form themselves, as highlighted by these two teams' ongoing presence in what is developing into an enthralling title-race. There have been just two defeats under Marco Rose's watch, whose team bettered Eintracht Frankfurt last Sunday thanks to goals from Timo Werner and Emil Forsberg. France international Christopher Nkunku made his third substitute appearance in a row against Frankfurt and, with a full week of training behind him, the club's top scorer is ready for a first league start of the year. Strike-partner Andre Silva also started among the substitutes last time out and returns to the side, with Werner and Yussef Poulsen making way. It will be a little while until we see Nicolas Seiwald in the German top-flight, while Konrad Laimer misses out after collecting a fifth yellow card of the campaign. Amadou Haidara and Xaver Schlager are the preferrred pairing in central midfield, with Kevin Kampl joining young American Caden Clark on the bench.

Watch: Bellingham vs. Nkunku: brilliant finishers

Match stats Eight goals after 22 matches represents career-best form for Brandt, who's scored in four successive games for the second time and set up a league-leading 15 passes to a shot in 2023. Dortmund can make it a club record-equalling eight Bundesliga wins to start a calendar year. The class of 2011/12 achieved the feat on their way to winning a second straight title under Jürgen Klopp. BVB have lost their last three against Leipzig, but are unbeaten in their previous 32 Bundesliga home games on a Friday (W24, D8). Nkunku scored and assisted in a 2-1 win in Dortmund last season, before having a hand in all three goals in the reverse fixture. Since Rose took charge on 8 September 2022, no Bundesliga team has collected as many points as Leipzig (37, compared to Bayern's 35 and BVB's 34). His 2.2 points per game is the best ratio of any Leipzig coach. Leipzig have scored 13 times in the final 15 minutes of matches this season - a league-high tally shared with Dortmund and Werder Bremen. They've also conceded a league-low one goal in that phase of games.

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CONFIRMED teams

Dortmund: Meyer - Wolf, Süle, Schlotterbeck, Ryerson - Can - Brandt, Bellingham, Özcan, Reus (c) - Haller
Subs: Reyna, Dahoud, Guerreiro, Hummels, Modeste, Meunier, Passlack, Bynoe-Gittens
Out: Adeyemi (thigh), Duranville (thigh), Kamara (knee), Malen (ankle), Morey (match fitness), Moukoko (ankle), Kobel (muscular)
Coach: Edin Terzic

Leipzig: Blaswich - Henrichs, Orban (c), Gvardiol, Halstenberg - Schlager, Haidara - Szoboszlai, Nkunku, Forsberg - Silva
Subs: Nyland, Simakan, Klostermann, Raum, Clark, Kampl, Poulsen, Werner
Out: Diallo (knee), Gulacsi (knee), Laimer (suspended), Olmo (thigh)
Coach: Marco Rose

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