Dortmund without Bender, Kehl for Hoffenheim

Bundesliga champions Borussia Dortmund will be without key midfielders Sven Bender and captain Sebastian Kehl for Sunday's match away to Hoffenheim.

Neither featured in Dortmund's 3-2 defeat at the hands of VfL Wolfsburg last Saturday, but Kehl has laboured with a knee infection since the end of November, while Germany international Bender has a groin injury.

Dortmund are third in the league table, while at the other end, Hoffenheim are third from bottom after sacking coach Markus Babbel on December 3 and desperate to break their five-match losing streak.

"Overall, Hoffenheim are a really good league team, who haven't had many good results up until now," said Dortmund coach Jurgen Klopp after his team lost their last two visits to Sinsheim, south-west Germany.

"You always have the feeling you have to play really well when you play there."