Borussia Dortmund bring a perfect Bundesliga start into Friday's Matchday 5 meeting with Werder Bremen, and the headline clash is up front. Dortmund have won all four league games and sit two points clear of Bayern Munich. Serhou Guirassy has added four goals and four assists in five games in all competitions, which is a strong start for a striker who is also creating for others.

Dortmund's start and Guirassy's role

The league numbers are tidy too. Dortmund have 12 points, 9 goals scored and only 2 conceded, so this is not a team leaning on one forward for every result. Guirassy has created a team-high seven chances, and Fabio Silva's view of the partnership helps explain why Dortmund's attack has looked so connected: "I play better when I play alongside him. We can create more space for each other. We create more chances and have a stronger presence in the penalty area." The point is straightforward enough, Guirassy is doing more than finishing chances.

Füllkrug's return to familiar ground

For Niclas Füllkrug, the game carries a different edge. He played the full 90 minutes of the 2024 UEFA Champions League final before moving to West Ham in the English Premier League, and he has since found scoring rhythm again at Werder Bremen. He has three goals in his opening four Bundesliga matches of the season, and he could extend that to four successive league games, which would be a personal best.

Füllkrug has never scored against Dortmund, which keeps the reunion angle alive without needing to oversell it. His own comments make clear why the move back to Bremen mattered. Speaking to bundesliga.com, he said: "There are various reasons why I started thinking about a transfer in the first place. A transfer like that which BVB made is not the greatest vote of confidence for me. It's very important for me to be at a club where I play a central role, where I'm important. Where the style of play is also geared towards me to a certain extent,". Friday's opening fixture at Dortmund gives him the chance to test that form against the club whose signing of Guirassy helped push him away in the first place.

Written by Jack Mercer with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 1 outlet. How we work →