Niko Kovac outlined his ambitions to make Borussia Dortmund Bundesliga title contenders once again ahead of their trip to Heidenheim this Saturday. 

After starting their league campaign by conceding two late goals to draw with St. Pauli, Dortmund got off the mark with a 3-0 win over Union Berlin before the international break.

Dortmund find themselves fourth in the early-season standings, two points behind Bayern Munich, Eintracht Frankfurt and Koln, all of whom won their first two fixtures. 

Kovac replaced Nuri Sahin in February and quickly got to work at Dortmund, leading the club to a spot in this year's Champions League after an eight-game unbeaten league run. 

However, the 53-year-old wants more. Dortmund have failed to win the Bundesliga since 2011-12, the second of two top-flight crowns they won under Jurgen Klopp. 

Dortmund have since finished in second seven times since their last title success, and Kovac wants his team to challenge top teams like champions Bayern at the summit. 

"You have to get into your rhythm again. You haven't trained together for two weeks. That doesn't make things any easier, but we have the necessary quality," Kovac said.

"We're happy that everyone has come back fit. We trained to a slightly reduced extent because our lads have been travelling a great deal, and in some cases had long journeys.

"I'm someone who makes demands because we have ambitions. We want to establish ourselves at the top."

After the first two games of the campaign, Dortmund are handed a 14.2% chance of winning the title by the Opta supercomputer, a total only bettered by Bayern's 66.4%. 

Dortmund's squad has already been hampered by injuries at this early stage, with Niklas Sule, Emre Can and Julien Duranville all ruled out of facing Heidenheim this weekend. 

Fabio Silva is also not yet ready to play, while Julian Brandt underwent an operation during the international window to repair a hand injury sustained at the Club World Cup.

Another big name absent from Dortmund's ranks is defender Nico Schlotterbeck, who had surgery to fix a meniscus tear in his left knee that he suffered back in April. 

Schlotterbeck has since returned to light training over the last couple of weeks, but Kovac confirmed that a return to the first-team picture was still some way off. 

"Nico has come back after five months and has been doing some light training without contact," Kovac added. "He is a key player, a top national team player.

"Before we even consider the national team, he has to be healthy for the club and have playing minutes in training, in Bundesliga and Champions League matches.

"It will take more time. A Bundesliga player, and especially a defender, has to be able to do one-on-ones if they want to be part of the bench, and he is not yet that far."

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Heidenheim – Patrick Mainka

One of only two sides in the Bundesliga yet to register a point this season, Heidenheim's hopes of an upset here have been hindered by the departure of Leo Scienza, who joined Southampton having created all three of the club's big chances in the first two matchdays of 2025-26.

That means their defence will need to be on top form, and they will look towards captain Mainka to lead from the front. 

Indeed, no player has made more clearances than Mainka (10) for Heidenheim in the league this season, while only Arijon Ibrahimovic (five) has won more aerial duels than the German defender (three, level with Benedikt Gimber). 

Borussia Dortmund – Serhou Guirassy

Guirassy has scored in his last seven Bundesliga matches. For Dortmund, only Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in 2015 (10) and Robert Lewandowski in 2013 (12) have netted in more consecutive top-flight fixtures.

The Dortmund talisman has found the back of the net 18 times so far in 2025. In Europe's top five leagues, only Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe (24) has done so more often. 

MATCH PREDICTION: BORUSSIA DORTMUND WIN

Dortmund are unbeaten in 10 Bundesliga matches across all seasons (W8 D2) – only Bayern have had a longer run (11). Since MD27 of the 2024-25 campaign, no team in the top-flight have earned more points than Kovac's men (26, the same as Bayern).

Furthermore, Dortmund recently scored at least three goals in seven consecutive Bundesliga games for the first time. In the top-flight's history, only Bayern (eight in 2005) and RB Leipzig (nine games from 2019 to 2020) have managed this in more consecutive games.

And Kovac is slowly imprinting his style at Dortmund. Indeed, his team has completed 1,192 passes in the first two matchdays of the Bundesliga season, the most of any team in the league. At 89%, they also have the best pass completion rate in the league in 2025-26.

Heidenheim, meanwhile, are currently mired in a three-game losing skid in the Bundesliga, a streak that matches the longest of any current top-flight club, level with Freiburg.

Notably, Heidenheim has only endured a longer losing run on two occasions, with the most recent instance occurring from January to February 2025, when they suffered five consecutive defeats.

They have also struggled against Dortmund. Heidenheim is still without a win after four Bundesliga matches against this weekend's opponents (D2 L2). Only against Leipzig have they played more often in the top flight without winning (D1 L4).

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Heidenheim – 19.6%

Draw – 21.8%

Borussia Dortmund – 58.6%