Niko Kovac feels Borussia Dortmund have made clear progress under his tutelage, as he prepares for the opening Bundesliga fixture of the season.

Kovac took over Dortmund during the 2024-25 season, replacing Nuri Sahin.

Since Kovac took charge, Dortmund have won 32 Bundesliga matches, a tally bettered only by Bayern Munich (38). They have scored 107 goals, from chances worth 98.9 expected goals, while conceding just 52 in return, a joint-league low in that time, among ever-present teams. They have kept a joint-high 19 clean sheets.

However, Dortmund have not managed to win a trophy under Kovac, and they lost 2-1 to Bayern in the Franz Beckenbauer Supercup last week.

But ahead of his team hosting Hamburg on Saturday, Kovac defended the work he has done at Dortmund.

"If someone likes my style, this is up to you," Kovac said.

"For me, we are successful. And I think that, together, since we arrived, we did a very good job.

"As a coach, I think you need to see what kind of players you have, what situation you have, and you must always adapt.

"I arrived in a bad situation. The squad was planned with a back four, but after two or three games we saw it was not working, so we changed to a back five.

"So we worked on this. With those physical abilities, you're immediately a better football player."

Dortmund finished second in the Bundesliga last season, 16 points behind champions Bayern.

Dortmund president Hans-Joachim Watzke told Sky Germany: "Well, you have to be honest: we had a good Bundesliga season last year and picked up 73 points.

"In the past, that would have been enough to win the title. Today, that's no longer the case because Bayern dominate everything.

"At Borussia Dortmund, there's only so much we can do to change that, because the gap between Germany's top two clubs has become so vast economically. So we shouldn't kid ourselves: Bayern Munich are overwhelming favourites."

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Borussia Dortmund - Konstantinos Karetsas

Karetsas provided 10 assists for Genk in the Belgian Jupiler Pro League last season – among all teenagers in Europe's top 10 leagues, only Barcelona's Lamine Yamal managed more assists (11).

Across the league, only Christos Tzolis provided more assists (23) for Club Brugge in Belgium last season than Karetsas.

Hamburg - Yussuf Poulsen

Poulsen has plenty of big-game experience, especially from his time with RB Leipzig.

The forward could be crucial if Hamburg are to get anything from this game, though he did net only one Bundesliga goal last term.

MATCH PREDICTION: BORUSSIA DORTMUND WIN

Dortmund have not lost any of their last seven Bundesliga meetings with HSV (W6 D1).

At home, BVB have won nine of their last 11 Bundesliga matches against HSV (L2), including the last four in a row.

Dortmund kept 15 clean sheets in the Bundesliga last season, the most in the league and a joint club record, having also managed this many in 2011-12 and 2019-20. With 34 goals conceded, Kovac's team had the best defence in the league in 2025-26.

HSV, though, have failed to keep a clean sheet in their last 14 Bundesliga matches since a 2-0 win against Heidenheim in early February, the joint-most of any current top-flight side along with Koln.

Since the start of the 1970s, Hamburg have only had one longer run without a clean sheet in the top-flight – 16 consecutive games between April and November 2011.

After 10 consecutive Bundesliga opening day wins, Borussia Dortmund failed to win for the first time since the 2014-15 season in their 2025-26 league opener against St. Pauli (3-3).

Dortmund have won their first home game in each of the last 11 Bundesliga seasons, a run that began after a 0-2 defeat to Leverkusen in 2014-15 – this is an ongoing Bundesliga record, with no club in the competition's history ever achieving such a long winning streak in their first home games of a season.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Dortmund - 67.8%

Draw - 18.2%

Hamburg - 14%