HOFFENHEIM - BORUSSIA DORTMUND

Opposite dynamics here.

Hoffenheim is in very poor form, with 5 defeats in a row, poor performances, 12 defeats in 21 games so far, and in bad shape since the World Cup break: winless in last 7 games, being the worst Bundesliga team in this period. Having picked up 17 points from their opening 10 matches of the season, they have taken only two points from their last 11, including just one in their six top-flight outings in the post-World Cup period

At home they have not been either a strong team this season, they have the second worst numbers in the whole league with a balance of 3/2/6, just above bottom Schalke (who are in better form than Hoffenheim with 4 draws in last 4 games).

Coach Pellegrino Matarazzo, will have to deal with Robert Skov, Jacob Bruun Larsen and Grischa Prömel injuries.

On the other hand, Borussia Dortmund are on a brilliant run of form. The German side have won all eight competitive matches since the resumption of football post-World Cup, with six Bundesliga victories, one in the DFB Pokal against top-flight Bochum and the huge victory over Chelsea in the Champions League. This is their best winning run since their amazing campaign with Jurgen Klopp in the 2011/12 season. In that glorious campaign, Jürgen Klopp led BVB to a Bundesliga and Pokal double having started the second half of the season in similarly victorious form. This time around, they are shaking things up with a mesmerising mix of electric youth and steady experience in a squad that has coach Terzic bursting with pride.

BVB are leading the way in the post-winter period, with no other team able to boast only wins since the Bundesliga restart. This is also one of the best bench Borussia Dortmund ever had. It also brought the Black-and-Yellows’ goals-from-subs total this season to 10.

Following the 2022 FIFA World Cup, BVB have shared the goals around the team, with no fewer than 10 different goalscorers in those eight matches: Karim Adeyemi (5), Giovanni Reyna (3), Julian Brandt (3), Julian Brandt (3), Nico Schlotterbeck (2), Jamie Bynoe-Gittens (2), Julian Brandt (3), Emre Can, Marco Reus (2), Julian Ryerson, Malen, Jude Bellingham and Sébastien Haller have all got on the scoresheet.

Added to their strength in depth, Dortmund’s astounding pool of young talent is giving an energy that is certain to provoke envy throughout Germany and beyond. As many as 15 goals have been scored by BVB players aged 20 or under in the current campaign, a number that can only be matched by the 17 other teams in the Bundesliga when their totals are combined.

Dortmund is extremely efficient right now and that's exactly what Hoffenheim doesn't want as an opponent. A quick transition and a team in good shape... Who would want that?

This match is pretty important for BVB: Their next games are RB Leipzig (rivals in the title race) and Chelsea in the UCL ⅛ finals second leg. Furthermore, on Sunday Bayern Munich (1st) and Union Berlin (3rd) will be faced off on Sunday, so a victory here will take Dortmund top for 24 hours at least (both teams have same points as Borussia).

Seeing the current form of both teams, we have surely the worst BL team against the best one. This game against Hoffenheim should be quite easy on paper and that should be reflected on the field. I think that Borussia Dortmund will probably create many opportunities and convert them.

LEICESTER - ARSENAL

Great match at the King Power Stadium between Leicester City and the leaders. Leicester City is currently fighting to avoid relegation, where they are just 4 points above with the higher number of defeats (13 in 23 games) of all PL teams who are in the safe zone. They have also one of the worst defenses with 41 goals conceded so far.

At home they aren’t either a very strong team: the second worst home team after bottom Southampton, with a balance of 3/3/5 - while Arsenal is the best visitor in the league with 9/1/2.

They received a tough reality check after crushing Tottenham Hotspur 4-1, with a solid defeat 3:0 against Manchester United.

Prior to their trip to Old Trafford, Brendan Rodgers’ team had a three-game winning streak, which was undoubtedly ignited by the return of James Maddison at the right time. But, the Red Devils’ eight-match Premier League streak against Leicester was the turning point for that team.

The squad that has lost five games from winning situations this season—the most in the league—welcomes the team that excels at winning from losing positions. Moreover, Rodgers’s team hasn’t earned a Premier League shutout at the King Power Stadium since October!

They have danger upfront, are creating chances and scoring goals, but their weak defense is costing them a lot of points.

On the other hand, Arsenal is coming to this match after a much needed victory over Aston Villa, which meant the end of a 4 games winless (two against Manchester City) which almost costed them the leadership of the league. They are still at the top, but with only two points advantage above Cityzens.

This is a new Arsenal. One that has risen to the challenge of being league leaders for so long this campaign. One that has played with fire and flair, breaking the monotony of City and Liverpool fighting it out at the top of the table, picking up neutral admirers along the way. Surely, surely, this could be their time – right?

Some of those winless games mentioned were pretty unlucky, such as Brentford (1:1). Ivan Toney’s equaliser was allowed to stand after a VAR decision that has since brought an apology from referee’s chief Howard Webb. The draw meant Arsenal have failed to win consecutive Premier League matches for the first time this season, having suffered defeat on the road against Everton in the game before that. The defeat against Manchester City (1:3) could be considered as excessive too, because the match was pretty equal and a draw would have been fairest in my opinion.

The team is full of confidence and working perfectly. Continuity has been a key for the Gunners this campaign. They’ve only made 14 changes to their starting XI in the competition this season, by far the fewest with Newcastle (23) their nearest rivals. Some of these have been forced by injuries to the likes of Mohamed Elneny and Gabriel Jesus, and while continuity is of course a good thing, it comes with the fear that the side might be beginning to suffer from burnout. Martinelli in particular has come in for a little criticism amongst the fanbase for a recent drop in form and there are some calls for him to be dropped for this crunch clash.

Arsenal has a great record recently with Leicester: 1:3 and 0:2 (both games away) in 2021, 2:0 in 2022 and 4:2 in the previous meeting this season. Seeing the current form of both teams and how good Arsenal is performing, they should be able to achieve another victory, needed to stay at the top of the table.

本译文使用有道机器翻译，仅供参考：

霍芬海姆-多特蒙德

两队的状态正好相反。

霍芬海姆的状态非常糟糕，5连败，表现不佳，目前为止21场比赛输了12场，世界杯休息后状态也很糟糕:最近7场比赛一球未胜，是这段时间德甲最差的球队。他们在本赛季的前10场比赛中拿到了17分，但在过去的11场比赛中只拿到了2分，其中包括世界杯后的6场顶级联赛中只拿到了1分

本赛季在主场，他们也不是一支强队，他们的数据在整个联赛中排名第二，平衡为3/2/6，仅高于垫底的沙尔克(沙尔克的状态比霍芬海姆好，最近4场比赛4平)。

教练佩莱格里诺·马塔拉佐，将不得不处理罗伯特·斯科夫、雅各布·布鲁恩·拉尔森和格里沙Prömel的伤病。

另一方面，多特蒙德正处于辉煌的状态。自从世界杯后恢复足球比赛以来，德国球队已经赢下了所有的8场比赛，其中包括6场德甲联赛的胜利，一场在DFB Pokal对阵顶级联赛波鸿的比赛，以及在欧冠联赛中大胜切尔西。这是自2011/12赛季尤尔根·克洛普带领球队取得惊人成绩以来，他们取得的最好成绩。在那个辉煌的赛季中，Jürgen克洛普带领BVB以同样的胜利状态开始了下半赛季，获得了德甲和波卡的双冠王。这一次，他们以令人着迷的年轻活力和稳定经验的组合撼动了一切，这让主教练特尔季奇感到骄傲。

BVB在冬季后的时期处于领先地位，自从德甲重启以来，没有其他球队能够只赢球。这也是多特蒙德有史以来最好的板凳之一。这也使得黑黄军团本赛季的替补进球总数达到了10个。

在2022年世界杯之后，BVB在球队中分享了进球，在这8场比赛中，至少有10名不同的进球者:卡里姆·阿德耶米(5次)、乔瓦尼·雷纳(3次)、朱利安·勃兰特(3次)、尼科·施洛特贝克(2次)、杰米·拜诺-吉滕斯(2次)、朱利安·勃兰特(3次)、埃姆雷·詹、马可·罗伊斯(2次)、朱利安·赖尔森、马伦、裘德·贝灵汉和Sébastien哈勒都有进球。

再加上他们的实力深度，多特蒙德惊人的年轻才俊库正在给他们的能量，这肯定会引起整个德国和其他国家的嫉妒。在目前的赛季中，BVB 20岁或以下的球员已经打进了多达15个进球，这一数字只有德甲其他17支球队的总和才能与之匹敌。

多特蒙德现在效率极高，这正是霍芬海姆不想要的对手。一个快速的过渡和一个状态良好的团队……谁会想要那样?

这场比赛对BVB来说非常重要:他们接下来的比赛是莱比锡RB(争夺冠军的竞争对手)和UCL决赛次回合的切尔西。此外，周日拜仁慕尼黑(第1名)和柏林联盟(第3名)将在周日碰面，因此在这里获胜将使多特蒙德至少在24小时内领跑(两支球队都与保加利亚积分相同)。

从两支球队目前的状态来看，我们肯定是BL最差的球队对阵最好的球队。这场对阵霍芬海姆的比赛在纸面上应该是相当轻松的，这应该反映在球场上。我认为多特蒙德可能会创造很多机会，并将其转化。

莱斯特-阿森纳

在国王体育场，莱斯特城和领头羊之间的精彩比赛。莱斯特城目前正在为保级而战，在所有处于安全区域的PL球队中，他们以更高的失败次数(23场比赛13场)仅领先4分。他们也是防守最差的球队之一，到目前为止丢了41个球。

在主场，他们也不是一支非常强大的球队:仅次于垫底的南安普顿的第二差的主场球队，平衡为3/3/5，而阿森纳是联赛中最好的客队，有9/1/2。

在4-1大胜热刺，0 - 3惨败曼联后，他们接受了严峻的现实考验。

在前往老特拉福德之前，布兰登·罗杰斯的球队取得了三连胜，这无疑是由于詹姆斯·麦迪森在合适的时间回归而点燃的。但是，红魔在英超对阵莱斯特城的8场比赛是这支球队的转折点。

这支球队本赛季在赢球的情况下输掉了5场比赛，这在联盟中是最多的，他们欢迎这支擅长在输球的情况下赢球的球队。此外，罗杰斯的球队自10月以来还没有在国王权力体育场获得过一场英超零封!

他们在前面有危险，创造机会和进球，但他们薄弱的防守让他们失去了很多分数。

另一方面，阿森纳在对阿斯顿维拉的比赛中取得了急需的胜利，这意味着他们结束了4场比赛(对曼城的两场)，这几乎让他们失去了联赛的领导地位。他们仍然位居榜首，但只比Cityzens领先两分。

这是一个新的兵工厂。这支球队在这场比赛中已经接受了联盟领袖的挑战。一个充满激情和天赋的球员，打破了曼城和利物浦在积分榜上竞争的单调，一路上赢得了中立的崇拜者。当然，当然，这是他们的时代，对吧?

有些没有获胜的比赛是非常不幸的，比如布伦特福德(1:1)。在VAR判罚后，伊万·托尼扳平比分的进球被判成立，主裁判霍华德·韦伯为此道歉。这场平局意味着阿森纳本赛季首次未能在英超联赛中取得连胜，此前在客场对阵埃弗顿的比赛中失利。输给曼城(1:3)也可以被认为是过度的，因为比赛是相当平等的，在我看来平局是最公平的。

团队充满信心，工作完美。连续性是枪手这个赛季的关键。他们在本赛季的比赛中只更换了14名首发球员，目前为止与他们最接近的对手纽卡斯尔(23人)相比，他们的首发人数最少。其中一些人是由于穆罕默德·埃尔内尼和加布里埃尔·热苏斯的伤病而被迫离开的，虽然连续性当然是一件好事，但随之而来的是球队可能开始遭受倦怠的担忧。马蒂内利尤其受到了球迷的批评，因为他最近的状态下降，有些人呼吁他在这场关键的比赛中被淘汰。

阿森纳最近与莱斯特城的战绩很好:2021年1:3和0:2(都是客场)，2022年2:0，本赛季之前的比赛4:2。看看两支球队目前的状态和阿森纳的表现，他们应该能够取得另一场胜利，保持在积分榜的榜首。