Hoffenheim vs Borussia Dortmund: Team News and Where to Watch

The Bundesliga rolls back into Sinsheim on 5 September 2026, with Hoffenheim trying to steady themselves against a Borussia Dortmund side already eyeing the top of the table. Kick-off at the SNP Arena is set for 14:30 local time – and the stakes arrive early in the season.

Where the game is on TV and streaming

The fixture is being carried across the globe, with different broadcasters picking up the rights by territory:

• India / Pakistan / Bangladesh / Afghanistan / Nepal / Sri Lanka / Bhutan / Maldives: ZEE5
• United States / Puerto Rico: Peacock / UNIVERSO
• United Kingdom / Ireland: Sky Sports (plus DAZN in the UK)
• Germany / Austria / Switzerland: Sky Sport and DAZN
• Italy / San Marino: Sky Sport Italia
• Spain / Andorra: DAZN Spain
• France: beIN Sports
• Australia / New Zealand / Indonesia / Philippines / Malaysia / Laos / Brunei / Vanuatu / Samoa: beIN Sports
• China / Hong Kong / Vietnam / Thailand / Japan: beIN Sports (Japan via DAZN Japan)
• Brazil (international): OneFootball
• Canada: DAZN Canada / fuboTV
• Mexico: FOX Mexico
• Much of Central America and the Caribbean (including Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Panama, Haiti, Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Trinidad, Belize, Bahamas): FOX+
• Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, Bolivia, Peru, Venezuela, Chile, Suriname, Colombia: Disney+ Premium (or Disney+ Premium Sur)
• Nigeria, DR Congo, Ghana, Côte d'Ivoire, Cameroon, Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso, Senegal, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Madagascar, Burundi, Equatorial Guinea, Angola, Mozambique: Canal+ Sport 1 Afrique
• South Africa, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Malawi, Angola, Mozambique: StarTimes (plus ZBC 2 in Tanzania)
• Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Iceland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania: Viaplay (local variations)
• Portugal: DAZN Portugal
• Belgium: Play Sports
• Turkey: S Sport+
• Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Georgia, Armenia, Moldova: Okko Sport
• Czech Republic / Slovakia: Nova Sport 3 (and Voyo in Slovakia)
• Greece / Cyprus: Nova Sports 3
• Romania: Orange TV Go / Prima Sport
• Poland: Canal+ / Eleven Sports
• Croatia / Serbia / Macedonia / Montenegro / Bosnia: Arena Sport
• Slovenia: ŠTV 1
• Albania: Tring Sport 3
• Singapore: StarHub TV+
• Luxembourg / Liechtenstein: DAZN (Germany feed in Liechtenstein)
• Malta: GO TV
• Iceland / Faroe Islands: Viaplay / See
• New Zealand: beIN Sports

Plenty of options, depending on where you are.

Using a VPN to watch Hoffenheim vs Dortmund

For viewers stuck behind regional blackouts, a VPN offers a workaround. By connecting to a server in a country where the game is being shown, you can access that region’s stream as if you were there.

The process is straightforward:

1. Sign up with a reputable VPN provider and install the app on your device.
2. Open the app and connect to a server in a country carrying the match.
3. Clear your browser cookies or cache so websites register your new virtual location.
4. Head to the broadcaster’s site or app and start the stream.

To get the action onto a TV, Android-based Smart TVs and devices like Amazon Fire TV Stick or Google Chromecast with Google TV usually support native VPN apps. Log in on the TV, connect, and you’re set.

For Apple TV, Roku, or games consoles, the workaround is different: either use Smart DNS settings from your VPN account, or cast/mirror the stream from a VPN-connected phone or laptop to the big screen.

Hoffenheim team news: reshuffled but dangerous

Christian Ilzer goes into this one with a relatively clean bill of health, but a notable absence. Alexander Prass is ruled out and will not feature.

The projected Hoffenheim XI:

• Goalkeeper: Oliver Baumann
• Defence: Ozan Kabak, Albian Hajdari, Bernardo, with Vladimir Coufal also in the back line
• Midfield: Bambase Conte, Wouter Burger, Adam Daghim, Leon Avdullahu
• Attack: Adam Hlozek, Tim Lemperle

No suspensions hang over the home side. Any late changes will hinge on fitness checks closer to kick-off, yet the structure is clear: a solid back three-plus-one, energy in midfield, and Hlozek and Lemperle asked to carry the goal threat.

Dortmund team news: stretched squad, sharp frontline

Niko Kovac does not have the luxury of a full squad. Dortmund arrive in Sinsheim missing several important pieces.

Out injured: Nico Schlotterbeck, Emre Can, Giannis Konstantelias, Justin Lerma, Mussa Kaba.

Suspended: Samuele Inacio.

Even so, the projected XI looks strong:

• Goalkeeper: Gregor Kobel
• Defence: Joane Gadou, Daniel Svensson, Waldemar Anton, Julian Ryerson
• Midfield: Marcel Sabitzer, Felix Nmecha
• Attack: Konstantinos Karetsas, Jobe Bellingham, Maximilian Beier
• Striker: Serhou Guirassy

Kovac leans on Sabitzer’s control and Nmecha’s running, with young creativity in Karetsas and Bellingham and the pace and movement of Beier behind Guirassy, the focal point up front.

Form guide: Hoffenheim fragile, Dortmund ruthless

Hoffenheim’s last five matches tell a story of inconsistency and defensive vulnerability: one win, one draw, three defeats, seven scored and ten conceded.

Their latest outing was a 3-2 Bundesliga loss to Cologne on 29 August, a game that again exposed their back line. The only competitive high point in that run came in the DFB-Pokal – a 4-0 dismantling of Erzgebirge Aue. Around that, back-to-back friendlies against Tottenham produced a draw and a defeat. Not once in those five games did Hoffenheim manage a clean sheet.

Dortmund arrive with far more momentum. Three wins, one draw and one defeat in their last five, with twelve goals scored and seven conceded, underline a side that can cut loose.

The most recent result was emphatic: a 5-0 DFB-Pokal thrashing of HEBC Hamburg on 1 September. Before that, they opened their Bundesliga campaign with a 2-0 victory over Hamburger SV on 29 August. The one setback was a 2-1 Super Cup defeat to Bayern Munich, wedged between that league win and a 2-2 pre-season draw with Roma.

Goals are flowing. The question is whether the injuries and suspension disrupt their rhythm in Sinsheim.

Head-to-head: no easy nights in Sinsheim

This fixture rarely drifts. The last meeting, on 18 April 2026, went Hoffenheim’s way – a 2-1 Bundesliga win at the SNP Arena that underlined how awkward this trip can be for Dortmund.

Across the last five clashes, the record is finely poised: two wins for Dortmund, two for Hoffenheim, one draw. Fourteen goals across those games point to open, attacking contests. Dortmund’s most recent home success in the series was a 2-0 victory at Signal Iduna Park in December 2025, but away from home the margins have been thinner.

The table: early tension

The standings sharpen the edge. Hoffenheim sit 14th, already glancing over their shoulder, while Dortmund occupy fifth and are looking upwards.

One side needs stability, the other needs to keep pace with the early frontrunners. With form, history and injuries all pulling in different directions, which version of these two teams will show up when the whistle blows in Sinsheim?