Did you know that… …Dortmund have made their best start to a year in a long...

Press conference with Marco Rose and Janis Blaswich ahead of the second-leg round of 16 fixture in the UCL

Bo Svensson was unable to put an exact percentage on where his team are at in Friday’s press conference ahead of his side’s trip to Aue on Sunday (18:30 CEST). The head coach, however, is convinced that his players have made progress since the training camp in Grassau. “We are where I believed we would be at at this point in time. We are further along than at the end of the training camp and we are ready for the challenges that lie ahead.”

The international break is over. Josha Vagnoman made his debut for Germany, Silas for DR Congo, while Konstantinos Mavropanos played every minute.

Goals: 1-0 Siebatcheu (31), 2-0 Becker (50), 3-0 Knoche (54), 3-1 Lukebakio (85)

VfL’s second milestone meeting of the second half of the 2022/23 campaign takes them to Gelsenkirchen, where they face bottom-of-the-table Schalke 04 at the Veltins-Arena on Friday 10 February (kick-off 20:30 CET) in what will be the teams’ 50th Bundesliga encounter. While Niko Kovac’s Wolves have lost their last two games in the league, promoted Schalke have managed to grind out back-to-back goalless draws. However, if their recent record against S04 is anything to go by, the Green-and-Whites can be confident of returning to winning ways against Thomas Reis’ team.

Reports suggest Pochettino is the Villa owners’ preferred candidate to replace Gerrard, who was sacked soon after his side’s 3-0 defeat to Fulham on Thursday despite awkwardly insisting he was a “fighter” in his post-match interview.

The East Westphalians lost their table-topping clash with FC Schalke 04, who have already qualified for the Final Round of the German Championship, 3-0. Bielefeld (32 points), BVB (29) – who both have the same goal difference – and Leverkusen (28) are now competing for second spot. Arminia will be away to Borussia Mönchengladbach at the weekend, while Borussia Dortmund will visit relegation-embattled FC Hennef 05 and Leverkusen will face Duisburg.

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SV Werder will host VfL Bochum at the wohninvest WESERSTADION on Saturday (15:30 CET). In terms of the statistics, there is a lot to suggest that the points will stay in Bremen, but the Green-Whites cannot and won’t rest on their past successes. Ole Werner expects an intense and fast-paced encounter with the team currently 16th in the table, in which the most important thing will be to defend well. “In addition, it will be crucial to find options quickly when in possession,” said Werder’s head coach.