Borussia Dortmund handed fitness boost as Manchester City manage Liverpool distraction | OneFootball

Borussia Dortmund have received positive personnel news ahead of their UEFA Champions League clash with Manchester City on Wednesday evening.

Manchester City are set to face off against Niko Kovac’s Borussia Dortmund at the Etihad Stadium on Wednesday night on matchday four of the UEFA Champions League.

Dortmund come into the game in blistering form, unbeaten in their last four, with the only failure to win across 90 minutes being against Eintracht Frankfurt in the DFB Pokal, which finished at one apiece as Die Schwarzgelben won the fixture on penalties.

The German outfit have started the season almost flawlessly, winning all but three games in all competitions – drawing three and only ending up on the wrong side of the scoreline on a solitary occasio – a narrow 2-1 loss to Vincent Kompany’s Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena in Der Klassiker on October 18.

Kovac’s side sit third in the Bundesliga on 20 points, having netted 15 times in their division whilst conceding just six – with six clean sheets in their first nine (joint with league leaders Bayern Munich) – so they will certainly prove a tough challenge for Pep Guardiola and his Manchester City side on Wednesday.

Dortmund have bolstered even further of late as imperious central defender Nico Schlotterbeck looks likely to return in time for midweek – after missing his side’s recent Bundesliga win over Augsburg,

However, as reported by Bild and relayed by Get Football News Germany, the Germany international trained individually on Monday and will certainly be a feature of the travelling squad to Manchester.

Kovac is optimistic about Schlotterbeck’s return; he will partake in a final training session on Tuesday, and his manager is confident that he will make the fixture against the 2023 UEFA Champions League winners.

In addition to Schlotterbeck, the residents of the Signal Iduna Park seem likely to receive further defensive reinforcements as Niklas Sule is expected to travel with his teammates to England despite also missing the win over Augsburg owing to a toe injury.

This fixture was always going to be a tough one for Manchester City but as these top-quality defenders return for the visitors, it has certainly increased in difficulty.

City are in a strong run of form ahead of Wednesday’s game and as Guardiola and co keep one eye on Sunday’s monumental Premier League clash against Liverpool, who have returned to form of late with eye-catching home wins over Aston Villa and Real Madrid.

Guardiola is likely to make changes to his starting XI for Dortmund and Manchester City’s team selection will signal the extent of focus on this weekend’s game – with little room for error in the title race as the Blues look to keep up the pressure on league leaders Arsenal.