Borussia Dortmund must tighten their defence and trust teenage striker Erling Braut Haaland to provide the goals at Bundesliga giant-killers Eintracht Frankfurt on Friday after a “ week to forget” .

Dortmund conceded two goals inside 82 seconds late on during last Saturday ’ s 4 -3 defeat at Bayer Leverkusen which left senior club bosses fuming .
After eight goals in his four previous games , it was the first time new signing Haaland , 19 , had failed to score for Dortmund .

Former captain Sebastian Kehl said the Leverkusen defeat capped a “ week to forget” , four days after being dumped out of the German Cup with a 3 -2 loss at Werder Bremen .

“ We ’ re conceding too many goals , which often means we lose the reward for our work as we ’ re scoring enough , ” said sporting director Michael Zorc .

The league and cup disappointments leave third -placed Dortmund lagging four points behind leaders Bayern Munich .
It will be no easy task to reboot their title challenge at Frankfurt , while they also have Tuesday ’ s Champions League last – 16 first leg against Paris Saint -Germain looming on the horizon .

Bayern suffered a humiliating 5 -1 defeat in Frankfurt last November, and second -placed RB Leipzig went down 2 -0 at the Commerzbank Arena in January .

Dortmund coach Lucien Favre has been correcting defensive flaws in training after neither Manuel Akanji nor centre -back partner Mats Hummels covered themselves in glory in Leverkusen .

“ It takes time to correct a few things , but it ’ s coming , ” said Favre , who comes under more pressure with each defeat .
“ I don ’ t see any other solution apart from work , work , work . ”

In the four Bundesliga games since the winter break , Dortmund have scored 18 goals but conceded eight .
January signing Emre Can urge his teammates to “ play dirty — a foul here , defend better there ” .

Eintracht welcome back Dutch striker Bas Dost after a stomach bug kept him sidelined for last weekend ’ s 5 -0 thumping of Augsburg .

Bayern could be without captain and goalkeeper Manuel Neuer at Cologne on Sunday as the Germany skipper has a virus , with reserve keeper Sven Ulreich on stand -by .

The reigning champions are bidding for a seventh win in eight league games , after being held to a goalless draw by Leipzig last Sunday .

One to watch : Alexander Nouri
The spotlight falls on Hertha Berlin ’ s new caretaker coach for Saturday ’ s league game at bottom side Paderborn after Jurgen Klinsmann’ s midweek bombshell , with the former Germany striker quitting after just 10 weeks in charge .

Having agreed to coach Hertha for the rest of the season , Klinsmann explained his abrupt decision by hinting at a power struggle with Hertha general manager Michael Preetz .

However , Hertha investor Lars Windhorst issued a damning rebuke of Klinsmann’ s behaviour.

“ You can do that in your youth , but not in professional business, where you have to fulfil agreements , ” said the wealthy businessman .

Nouri , who has been sacked by Bremen and second -division Ingolstadt in recent seasons , has his work cut out rebuilding confidence as last Saturday ’ s 3 – 1 defeat at home to Mainz pushed Hertha towards the relegation places .

Key stats
36 – Number of goals Haaland has scored this season in 27 games for Salzburg and Dortmund .
7 – Goals Dortmund have conceded in their last two games .
76 – Days that Jurgen Klinsmann spent as head coach of Hertha Berlin .
Fixtures ( all times 1430 GMT unless stated)
Friday
Borussia Dortmund v Eintracht Frankfurt ( 1930 )
Saturday
RB Leipzig v Werder Bremen , Hoffenheim v VfL Wolfsburg , Augsburg v Freiburg , Paderborn v Hertha Berlin , Union Berlin v Bayer Leverkusen , Fortuna Duesseldorf v Borussia Moenchengladbach ( 1730 )
Sunday
Cologne v Bayern Munich, Mainz 05 v Schalke 04 ( 1700 )

Source:- AFP