Bundesliga basement club SV Darmstadt 98 welcome Borussia Dortmund to Merck-Stadion am Bollenfalltor for their first top-flight fixture of 2024 on Saturday evening.
While the hosts last tasted success at the beginning of October, the visitors have failed to win each of their last four league matches.
The Lilies have picked up just 10 points from their first 16 fixtures – only in 2016-17 have they accumulated fewer points (eight) at this stage of a top-flight campaign – and they sit level on points with Koln and Mainz 05 in the relegation zone, but they are only three points adrift of safety.
Torsten Lieberknecht's men began 2024 in disappointing fashion as they suffered a 2-1 friendly defeat at home against second-tier side Holstein Kiel last weekend, with the Darmstadt boss admitting after the match that he 'noticed the failures' of his side, particularly in the final third after missing a plethora of chances.
Darmstadt must rectify those issues quickly if they are to have any chance of claiming points in a challenging run of fixtures against Dortmund, Eintracht Frankfurt, Union Berlin and Bayer Leverkusen as they attempt to boost their hopes of survival heading into the second half of the season.
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