- Kick-off
- Venue
- Signal Iduna Park, Dortmund
Our call: Borussia Dortmund win 2–0
Dortmund won four and drew one of the five home games in their last ten, and Fábio Silva gives Dortmund enough up front if Serhou Guirassy is missing.
We'll mark this call after full time.
Logged 5 Nov, 09:41 UTC, never edited.
In 30 seconds
- Dortmund are second on 18 points, level with leaders Bayern on points; Elversberg are seventh on 13 in their first Bundesliga season.
- Serhou Guirassy is a doubt after going off injured against Real Betis on Wed 4 Nov. Cole Campbell comes back to the club he left in the summer.
- Dortmund keep Elversberg out, with or without Guirassy.
The story
Dortmund beat Real Betis 2–1 in the Champions League on Wed 4 Nov, and it cost them their main striker. Serhou Guirassy went off injured about half an hour in, and Niko Kovač said afterwards that Guirassy had felt his thigh but that he did not think it was more than a strain. If Guirassy misses this one, Kovač said, Dortmund hope to have him back after the international break. By Thu 5 Nov the club had not said whether he can play against Elversberg.
The goals still came without him. Fábio Silva, who started up front beside Guirassy, scored first after 49 minutes, and Konstantinos Karetsas, sent on for Guirassy, got the winner after 72. Dortmund are second, level on 18 points with Bayern, who play at Mainz on Sat 7 Nov.
Elversberg arrive as the story of the season. Vincent Wagner's side are seventh in their first Bundesliga season and beat Mainz 4–1 on Fri 30 Oct, with Cole Campbell scoring the fourth in stoppage time after coming off the bench. Campbell joined Elversberg from Dortmund in the summer, and Dortmund's sporting director Ole Book spent eight years at Elversberg. Bundesliga.com calls it the smallest town in Bundesliga history visiting German football's largest stadium, with about 8,000 Elversberg fans expected. It is the first league meeting of the two clubs; the only one before it, a DFB Cup tie in 1981, finished 4–1 to Dortmund.
This decides it: Fábio Silva against Lukas Pinckert. Elversberg score freely at home but have not scored in their last three away games, at Schalke, Union Berlin and RB Leipzig. If Silva has to lead the line alone, he is the one who has to get past the Elversberg back four before Dortmund's patience runs out.
Form
Unbeaten in six games since the 1–0 defeat at Bodø/Glimt on 14 Oct; the draw here came in Munich.
Two home wins with four goals each, and no goal in the three defeats.
The games, with scores
| Borussia Dortmund | 4 Nov | v Real BetisUCL | W 2–1 |
| 31 Oct | at Bayern MünchenBL | D 2–2 | |
| 27 Oct | v Werder BremenDFB | W 3–2 | |
| 24 Oct | v Eintracht FrankfurtBL | W 1–0 | |
| 20 Oct | at Sabah FAUCL | W 2–1 | |
| SV Elversberg | 30 Oct | v FSV Mainz 05BL | W 4–1 |
| 27 Oct | v SV Darmstadt 98DFB | L 0–2 | |
| 24 Oct | at RB LeipzigBL | L 0–4 | |
| 17 Oct | v FC AugsburgBL | W 4–3 | |
| 10 Oct | at Union BerlinBL | L 0–1 |
Latest first. Latest on the left. BL = Bundesliga, DFB = DFB Pokal, UCL = Champions League. OddsIntel match database, read 4 Nov 2026.
Team news
Checked Thu 5 Nov 07:20 UTC: bvb.de (the Betis match ticker and report), Bundesliga.com (the Betis report, 5 Nov; matchday 8 absences, 30 Oct; this match's page) and sv07elversberg.de. Reported means the club has not yet confirmed it for this match. Line-ups: confirmed about an hour before kick-off; they go under Updates. We don't publish guessed XIs.
Two scorers did not start their side's last game, and neither is reported injured. Maximilian Beier, with 2 goals in Dortmund's last ten, was dropped to the bench against Betis and came on for Julian Ryerson after 74 minutes. Cole Campbell, with 2 goals in Elversberg's last ten, began the Mainz game on the bench and scored after coming on.
SV Elversberg 4-2-3-1 · v FSV Mainz 05, 30 Oct
- Kristof
- SirchPinckert (key battle)RohrGünther
- KeidelPoręba
- PetkovOnyekaKrattenmacher
- Mokwa
- Guirassy
- BellinghamFábio Silva (key battle)
- SvenssonNmechaVeermanRyerson
- BensebainiSchlotterbeckAnton
- Kobel
Borussia Dortmund 3-4-2-1 · v Real Betis, 4 Nov
Both last XIs on a pitch
SV Elversberg 4-2-3-1 · v FSV Mainz 05, 30 Oct
- Kristof
- SirchPinckert (key battle)RohrGünther
- KeidelPoręba
- PetkovOnyekaKrattenmacher
- Mokwa
- Guirassy
- BellinghamFábio Silva (key battle)
- SvenssonNmechaVeermanRyerson
- BensebainiSchlotterbeckAnton
- Kobel
Borussia Dortmund 3-4-2-1 · v Real Betis, 4 Nov
Who to watch
The duel to watch: Fábio Silva against Lukas Pinckert. Silva started and scored against Betis and is the striker Dortmund have if Guirassy is out; Pinckert started in Elversberg's back four in the 4–1 against Mainz. Who marks whom is our guess, not a team sheet, but Silva will have to beat that back four, Pinckert included.
Borussia Dortmund
Fábio Silva
Scored Dortmund's first goal against Betis after 49 minutes.
- 3
- goals, Dortmund's last 10
Borussia Dortmund
Felix Nmecha
Started in midfield against Betis and has chipped in with goals from deep.
- 2
- goals, Dortmund's last 10
SV Elversberg
Francis Onyeka
Started against Mainz and scored the second goal in the 4–1.
- 3
- goals, Elversberg's last 10
Player goals count only where we hold a named scorer: each side's last ten games, all competitions. OddsIntel match database, read 4 Nov 2026.
Numbers that matter
Goals scored, last ten: Borussia Dortmund 16, SV Elversberg 19 (higher is better)
Elversberg score more than Dortmund, but eight of theirs came in two home games.
Goals conceded, last ten · fewer is better: Borussia Dortmund 9, SV Elversberg 19 (lower is better)
Elversberg let in four at Leipzig and three each against Augsburg and Gladbach.
Clean sheets, last ten: Borussia Dortmund 4, SV Elversberg 1 (higher is better)
Elversberg's only one was the 0–0 at Schalke in September.
Last ten games each, all competitions. OddsIntel match database, read 4 Nov 2026.
Our call, explained
Our call: Borussia Dortmund win 2–0. In their last ten games Dortmund played five at home, won four and drew the other. The newcomers have conceded in nine of their last ten. We expect Fábio Silva, with Guirassy or without him, to find a way past Pinckert once, and a second to come late from Karetsas, Beier or a set piece.
Where this could go wrong. Dortmund can run dry: they drew 0–0 at Union Berlin and lost 1–0 at Bodø/Glimt in October, both away from home. Elversberg scored four at Gladbach in September, so a 1–1 is the likelier miss. The other way, Elversberg have let in four at Leipzig already, and an early Dortmund goal could turn this into a much bigger home win.
Updates
Nothing has changed since we published. Next: The result of Guirassy's tests, the DFB's choice of referee, Kovač's and Wagner's press conferences, and both confirmed team sheets about an hour before kick-off.
Data note: results, scorers, the table and line-ups from our database, read 4 Nov 23:40 UTC, so the counts include Dortmund's game against Real Betis on 4 Nov and Elversberg's against Mainz on 30 Oct. Over those ten games 4 Elversberg goals have no named scorer in our lists, so each Elversberg player's tally is a minimum. Team news and match details from bvb.de, Bundesliga.com and sv07elversberg.de.
Our call was timestamped by an independent service before kick-off, Thu 5 Nov, 09:50 UTC.
How the timestamp works
Timestamped before kick-off by an independent service (DigiCert, RFC 3161), Thu 5 Nov, 09:50 UTC. The call file is the exact version that was timestamped. The file with our call and its timestamp token: call file · timestamp. Its fingerprint (sha256):
e4a93ec4e5b45c4a654907787e1df552ef2a47da40e296b8ecb05a5901510b02
Our calls so far
- calls right
- 35/57
- home win every time
- 27/57