Kovac: Dortmund aiming to head into 2026 at Bundesliga summit

Niko Kovac has a clear target ahead of the Bundesliga's winter break, and that is to have Borussia Dortmund competing right at the top of the standings.

Dortmund resume their campaign on Saturday as they welcome Stuttgart to Signal Iduna Park.

Kovac's team sit third in the Bundesliga on 21 points from 10 games, seven behind leaders Bayern Munich.

But Kovac sees no reason why Dortmund cannot look to challenge Bayern by the start of 2026.

"We need and want to win the home games, so we know what we need to do at the weekend," said Kovac. 

"They are important games because we want to establish ourselves at the top of the league.

"We want to spend the winter at the top, progress in the DFB-Pokal, and get points in the Champions League.

"We just have to worry less about travelling [with home games], and we can use that time better.

"The stadium here in Dortmund with our brilliant fans really is quite a factor. That’s important for us, but of course, it’s also significant for our opponents."

Stuttgart will be no pushovers, though. They sit fourth, also on 21 points.

BVB are unbeaten in their last three league matches, while Stuttgart have won five of their last six, losing only to RB Leipzig, who sit second.

Dortmund have conceded just seven goals in the Bundesliga this season, fewer than any other side apart from Bayern (six), while their six clean sheets in the competition are only matched by the leaders, with Stuttgart on four.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Borussia Dortmund – Serhou Guirassy

Guirassy has scored 45 goals in all competitions across 65 appearances for Dortmund, surpassing the 44 goals he netted in 58 games for Stuttgart.

Against his former club, Guirassy has found the net in just one of his three Bundesliga appearances, a 5-1 defeat for BVB in the first half of last season.

Stuttgart – Deniz Undav

Undav scored a brace in Stuttgart's 3-2 victory over Augsburg before the international break.

Since the start of the 2023-24 season, Undav's average of a goal involvement every 106 minutes across all competitions (52 in 5,496 minutes) is the best of any German player across Europe's five big leagues.

MATCH PREDICTION: BORUSSIA DORTMUND WIN

Kovac's first game in charge of Dortmund was their last meeting with Stuttgart and, since then, he has collected 49 points from 24 league matches (W15 D4 L4) – only Bayern have earned more points in the Bundesliga in that time (59).

Dortmund are unbeaten in their last eight Bundesliga home games (W7 D1), having won just one of their previous seven at home beforehand. Only Bayern (nine games) are on a longer unbeaten home run in the division.

However, only Bayern (19) have collected more points than Stuttgart (18) since the start of matchday four.

Stuttgart have collected 21 points after their opening 10 Bundesliga matches, equalling their joint-best start to a season since winning the title in 2006-07, a points tally they only managed in this period in their runners-up campaign in 2023-24.

And though BVB are made favourites by Opta's model, Stuttgart have won their last five competitive matches against Dortmund – as many victories as they managed in their previous 33 meetings combined. 

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Borussia Dortmund – 51.4%

Draw – 23.3%

Stuttgart – 25.5%