Niko Kovac believes Borussia Dortmund cannot afford to pine for a return to Jurgen Klopp's heavy-metal style and must move forward, as they prepare to return to Bundesliga action.

Dortmund emerge from the winter break second in the Bundesliga table, albeit nine points adrift of runaway leaders Bayern Munich.

But they have an early chance to cut that gap when they visit Eintracht Frankfurt on Friday, with Bayern not in action until they take on Wolfsburg on Sunday.

BVB's success has been built upon a rock-solid defence, with only Bayern (11) conceding fewer goals than their 12 in the Bundesliga this season.

Their eight clean sheets this term are a joint record for the club through 15 matchdays, having won the title on the two previous occasions where they reached that figure by this stage – in 1994-95 and 2001-02. 

Dortmund have also trailed for just 91 minutes in the Bundesliga this season, with only Atletico Madrid (70 minutes) spending less time behind in Europe's top five leagues.

Almost 12 months on from his arrival at the Westfalenstadion, Kovac understands that some fans might want to see a more adventurous style, but he believes a new approach is needed.

"I played here many times before I was a coach. It's a working-class club with passion, desire, attitude and hard work in its DNA," he said in an interview with The Athletic. 

"They also want to see nice football here. I remember when Jurgen Klopp was here with his heavy metal football.

"But these are different times, with different players, and it’s a different situation. We must look forward rather than back."

Kovac initially struggled when he arrived at the club, only for a late-season resurgence to clinch a fourth-placed finish and Champions League qualification last May.

Having seen his team carry that momentum into this campaign, Kovac reflected: "We had seen that the team had a lot of quality. 

"We knew that we had to make adjustments, but also that we needed to keep it simple. And that became our motto: 'KISS... keep it simple, stupid.'"

Eintracht finished one place and three points above Dortmund last season, and they are in contention for a top-four finish again this campaign, sitting seventh in the standings, four points adrift of third-placed Bayer Leverkusen and fourth-placed RB Leipzig.

Head coach Dino Topmoller said: "The break was very short, but it was enough for all of us. The batteries are fully recharged and everyone's raring to go again – and with a cracker against BVB, too. 

"Dortmund have improved their defensive solidity under Kovac; they're extremely hardworking. I'm expecting a good fight. We have to be ready from the start."

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Eintracht Frankfurt – Younes Ebnoutalib

Ebnoutalib could make his Eintracht debut here, having arrived in an €18m deal from 2. Bundesliga side Elversberg.

He scored 12 goals in the 2. Bundesliga over the first half of the season, leading the division's scoring charts. Historically, Eintracht have fielded a league-high 495 different players in the Bundesliga, and the 22-year-old Frankfurt native should become number 496.

Borussia Dortmund – Serhou Guirassy 

Guirassy has failed to score in six straight competitive matches for Dortmund for the very first time, having also never endured a goal drought of this length at Stuttgart. 

He has also failed to score in six of his seven matches against Eintracht, with his only goal against them coming in a 3-0 home win for Stuttgart in April 2024.

He has endured more goalless meetings with Eintracht than he has against any other Bundesliga club, but he will see Friday's match as an opportunity to change things, having enjoyed some time off due to Guinea's failure to qualify for the Africa Cup of Nations.

MATCH PREDICTION – BORUSSIA DORTMUND WIN

Eintracht Frankfurt have lost just one of their last nine Bundesliga games (W4 D4), a 6-0 thrashing by RB Leipzig in early December. 

They have also started the new calendar year with a win in six of the last seven years, though the only exception was against Dortmund in 2022 (a 3-2 home defeat).

And Dortmund's 32 points from 15 games in 2025-26 represent their best start to a Bundesliga campaign in seven years, having collected 39 by this stage in 2018-19.

BVB have lost just one of their 23 league games since the international break in March 2025 (1-2 versus Bayern in October). 

In this period, Bayern are the only other team in Europe's top five leagues to suffer fewer than three losses, with Vincent Kompany's team going unbeaten in that span.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Eintracht Frankfurt – 29.1%

Borussia Dortmund – 45.4%

Draw – 25.5%