It's been a poor start to 2011 for Marco Kurz' men and to make matters worse die Roten Teufel welcome runaway leaders Dortmund to the Fritz Walter Stadion on Saturday evening. Last weekend's 3-2 away defeat at Hoffenheim was the club's third in a row and the newly-promoted club are yet to register a win in the second half of the Bundesliga campaign. Is there cause for concern? Perhaps, yet Kurz and co aren't throwing in the towel yet.
"We're playing well and raised our game again at Hoffenheim, but still came away without any points. It's a difficult situation for the team, but they will stick to their course and keep focusing on what's ahead. There's absolutely no sense of resignation," the Kaiserslautern coach told the Bundesliga official website.
The last time the two sides met Dortmund thrashed the Rhineland-Palatinate club 5-0 but the 2009-10 2.Bundesliga champions are looking forward to the challenge of trying to stop a team who have already won 10 games on the road this season.
"Dortmund are a young, hungry team and we know what we can expect from them. We're looking forward to it nevertheless, and it's great to be able to measure yourselves against the league leaders," Kurz continued.
Stats would show Kaiserslautern have reason to be confident going into Saturday's encounter. BVB have won only one of their last 18 matches at the Fritz Walter Stadion and the last time die Borussen were there they had to settle for a 3-3 draw after going 3-1 up.
Dortmund will start the game as heavy favourites but who would bet against Borussia's bogey team from causing the upset of the Bundesliga weekend?
BVB Looking To Keep Their Eyes Focused On The Prize
Despite last week's 0-0 stalemate versus Schalke, the leaders BVB still find themselves 12 points clear at the top of the league and only one of the biggest collapses in Bundesliga history could see Jurgen Klopp's men throw away the title now. Yet their is no room for complacency at die Schwarzgelben with Klopp keen to emphasise the importance of the task ahead at the Betzenberg.
"We already had some high-tempered games this season. We will again not let ourselves be distracted in a negative manner by a heated atmosphere. We go there to play football," Klopp told Borussia's official website.
With Kaiserslautern looking more like relegation candidates by the week, BVB will be fully aware that they will be coming up against a team fighting for their Bundesliga survival which could make things a whole lot tougher for the stand-out team of the season so far.
Yet there are plenty of people around the club looking forward to this weekend's fixture especially Dortmund's CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke.
"For games like this you are a football romantic. Kaiserslautern against Borussia Dortmund - this is a traditional fixture, and we love games like this," the 51-year-old told the German media.
With a fiery atmosphere guaranteed, Saturday's evening Bundesliga game could be a real cracker.
TEAM NEWS
Kaiserslautern
The home side are expected to make three changes from the side who were narrowly beaten by Hoffenheim last weekend 3-2. Martin Amedick is expected to return to the centre of defence after recovering from a hamstring strain with Mathias Abel likely to make way. Florian Dick will serve a one game suspension (five yellow cards) so Jiri Bilek will deputise. On-loan winger Adam Hlousek could make his debut with the injured Oliver Kirch (ankle ligament) making way. Jan Simunek has returned to training but will is not expected to be named in the matchday squad.
Probable Starting XI: Sippel - Petsos, Amedick, Rodnei, Jessen - Tiffert, Bilek - Ilicevic, Moravek, Hlousek - Lakic
Borussia Dortmund
The leaders are expected to make only one change from the side who drew 0-0 with Schalke last weekend with Neven Subotic returning from a one match suspension to replace Felipe Santana at the back. Die Borussen are without injured playmaker Shinji Kagawa who has a broken metatarsal while Sebastian Kehl, Patrick Owomoyela and Florian Kringe all miss out despite all three being within weeks of returning to first-team action.
Probable Starting XI: Weidenfeller - Pizszcek, Subotic, Hummels, Schmelzer - Sahin, Bender - Blaszczykowski, Goetze, Grosskreutz - Barrios
Prediction
BVB have been phenomenal away from home this season and with Kaiserslautern struggling for points and form then it's hard to look beyond another Dortmund victory. However, the home side will make things hard for the leaders and a hostile atmosphere will certainly help the strugglers.
1. FCK 1-2 Borussia 
