Fifth-placed takes on fourth when Borussia Dortmund host Eintracht Frankfurt in the Bundesliga on Saturday.

Frankfurt hold a four-point lead over Dortmund in the table, so may view avoiding defeat as a positive step in terms of qualifying for the Champions League for the first time in the club's history.

Match preview

Had Dortmund beaten FC Koln in their last game prior to the recent international break, Edin Terzic's side would have had the opportunity to leapfrog Frankfurt in the table by beating them on Saturday.

However, having lost to Markus Gisdol's strugglers earlier in the campaign, a 2-2 draw saw them squander an excellent opportunity to maintain the pressure on Adi Hutter's side.

Erling Braut Haaland certainly could not be blamed for his side's failings after bagging his 12th brace of the season for his club, devilishly spinning and striking with his weaker right foot to open the scoring inside three minutes after latching onto Emre Can's accurate long pass.

However, Ondrej Duda converted from the penalty spot to level the proceedings after Jude Bellingham was adjudged to have handled the ball, before Ismail Jakobs raced in behind to smash into the roof of Marwin Hitz's net.

BVB admirably pushed for an equaliser, with Haaland hitting the post from Thomas Meunier, before teenage debutant Ansgar Knauff raced down the right flank to lay the ball on a plate to claim a point for his side.

Dortmund may require all three against Frankfurt on Saturday to keep their Champions League qualification hopes healthy.

Having failed to win their previous three matches, there may have been concerns regarding Frankfurt's stuttering momentum in Hutter's side's quest to finish in the top four.

However, they were put firmly to bed last time out with one of the performances of the season in a 5-2 win against Union Berlin, who suffered only their sixth defeat in 26 games.

Indeed, Urs Fischer's side had only conceded three goals on three occasions this season - including against Frankfurt - so to put five past them was some achievement.

Andre Silva opened the scoring inside two minutes after converting another Filip Kostic cross, with Max Kruse confidently equalising five minutes later as an even match looked set to entail.

That could not have been further from the truth, though, with Hutter's side blitzing their opponents in an epic first-half display.

Their lead was restored in comical fashion with Robert Andrich's overzealous backpass finding goalkeeper Robin Knoche caught on his heels and unable to prevent it from hitting the back of his own net, before Silva turned provider for Kostic and subsequently finisher once again in one of the team moves of the season.

Any Union Berlin hopes restored by Kruse's fine looping header had long been extinguished before Timothy Chandler's injury-time strike, with Hutter hoping for a similarly scintillating attacking performance from his side at Dortmund on Saturday.

One clean sheet in their last 11 matches may be a concern against a side with Haaland in attack, but it is likely to be a case of having to at least match BVB's tally to ensure they do not concede any ground to them in the league table.

Team News

Dortmund will remain without England winger Jadon Sancho until at least mid-April with a thigh injury, but Raphael Guerreiro should be fit to return to the side.

Teenage striker Youssoufa Moukoko faces a similar return date to Sancho due to a calf issue, with defenders Mateu Morey and Marcel Schmelzer also expected to return to first-team action later this month.

However, Axel Witsel and Dan-Axel Zagadou are unlikely to feature again this season due to Achilles tendon and knee injuries.

Frankfurt, meanwhile, will travel without Makoto Hasebe after the veteran defender picked up his fifth booking of the season in the win against Union Berlin.

Martin Hinteregger is unlikely to be fit to replace him until mid-April due to a thigh injury, with Ragnar Ache, Jabez Makanda and Almamy Toure all out for the rest of the season.

It leaves Hutter desperately short of defenders to select from, but Tuta and Amin Younes will at least be available again having served their one-match suspensions, with both likely to return to the starting lineup.

Borussia Dortmund possible starting lineup:
Hitz; Meunier, Akanji, Hummels, Guerreiro; Bellingham, Delaney, Dahoud; Reus, Hazard; Haaland

Eintracht Frankfurt possible starting lineup:
Trapp; Ilsanker, Tuta, N'Dicka; Zuber, Sow, Rode, Kostic; Younes, Kamada; Silva

We say: Borussia Dortmund 2-2 Eintracht Frankfurt

With both sides far more comfortable attacking than they are defending, it is hard to envisage a low-scoring encounter between these teams.

A draw would suit Frankfurt in terms of maintaining their four-point lead over Dortmund, and we think they have enough about them to get it.

Previews by email