Borussia Dortmund vs RB Leipzig - Peter Bosz insists Dortmind will stick to their guns
Posted Saturday, October 14, 2017 by PA
Borussia Dortmund boss Peter Bosz insists his Bundesliga leaders will not abandon their free-flowing style as they prepare for one of their toughest tests of the season.
Unbeaten Dortmund, who sit five points ahead of second-placed Bayern Munich following six wins and a draw, welcome RB Leipzig to Westfalenstadion on Saturday.
Despite a couple of disappointing defeats on the road, fourth-placed Leipzig have registered four victories so far as they aim to replicate last season's impressive form which earned them Champions League football.
Bosz expects a difficult match but is adamant he will not alter his tactics because of the opposition.
"We will approach the game as we always do," he told his club's official website.
"We want to get the game under our control as quickly as possible, score goals and, if we can, give the fans some football that is easy on the eye."
Dortmund have plenty of defensive injury concerns going into the game with Greece international centre-back Sokratis Papastathopoulos joining Lukasz Piszczeck, Marcel Schmelzer, Raphael Guerreiro and Erik Durm on the sidelines.
The five players are a big loss for Bosz in his attempts to neutralise Leipzig's counter-attacking style.
"We know what we have to do," he added
"If we aren't positioned correctly, irrespective of whether we are playing Freiburg, Gladbach or Leipzig, we will concede goals.
"What is important is that we field the better team tomorrow."
Leipzig will be boosted by the return of top-scorer Timo Werner and midfielder Naby Keita as they bid to end Dortmund's long unbeaten home league record which stretches back to April 2015.
Germany forward Werner has shrugged off the neck injury which kept him out his country's World Cup qualifiers against Northern Ireland and Azerbaijan, while Liverpool-bound Keita is back from a three-game ban.
Despite being boosted by the availability of the important duo, Leipzig head coach Ralph Hasenhuttl expects a tough test.
"We're going to a stadium where no German team has won in the league for two years," he told his club's official website.
"But on an international (European) level, you can see that you can win in Dortmund.
"We must be very present from the outset and quickly get into a team compactness.
"We want to do better than the last time in Dortmund (a 1-0 defeat) and I trust my team can do it on Saturday."
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