Niko Kovac expects Borussia Dortmund to "show a reaction" when they face Freiburg in Bundesliga on Sunday.

The Black and Yellow were pegged back twice by Bodo/Glimt in the Champions League in midweek, as they missed the chance to return to the top eight in the league-phase table.

Kovac's side now look to get back to winning ways on their return to action in the German top flight, in which they sit third having lost just one of their opening 13 matches.

And the Dortmund boss underlined the high standards that are demanded of his players.

"We have to show a reaction after yesterday's game," he said. "That's what I expect from us.

"Expectations on every player and the coaching team are great. That's understandable. We are at BVB, and we aim to be successful.

"You need to win the tight matches. We cannot be content with losing only one match out of 21 in Bundesliga. Our aim should always be: 'We want more'.

"We want to win the next two games to end the calendar year with two wins."

Dortmund's opponents Freiburg occupy 10th place in the Bundesliga table, six points shy of the European spots.

Julian Schuster's side have scored 10 of their 20 league goals via dead-ball situations this season, and Kovac is understandably wary of their threat.

"We await a team who are very dangerous from set-pieces," the Dortmund boss added. "We'll have to be extremely careful."

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Freiburg – Johan Manzambi

Manzambi is the youngest player ever to score in three successive Bundesliga matches for Freiburg (20 years, 53 days), while only Rodolfo Esteban Cardoso (twice) and Papiss Cisse have scored for the club in more consecutive top-flight games (four each).

The Switzerland midfielder has scored more in this run of three matches (three goals) than in his previous 19 Bundesliga appearances combined (two).

Borussia Dortmund – Julian Brandt

Last time out, Brandt scored his 39th Bundesliga goal for Dortmund in his 200th league appearance for the club.

With 87 goal involvements (48 assists), he has drawn level with Jadon Sancho as Dortmund's player with the fourth-most Bundesliga goal involvements since data collection began in 2004-05.

Meanwhile, he has provided six Bundesliga assists against Freiburg – only against Wolfsburg (10) has he recorded more.

MATCH PREDICTION: BORUSSIA DORTMUND WIN

Dortmund have won their last seven Bundesliga meetings with Freiburg, scoring at least three goals in each.

No team in Bundesliga history has enjoyed a longer winning streak while scoring three or more goals each time over a single opponent (Dortmund also had a seven-match run against Schalke between 1964 and 1967).

Since the March international break, Dortmund have lost just one of 21 Bundesliga games (W15 D5) – in Europe's big five leagues, only Bayern Munich have suffered fewer than three league defeats in this period (zero).

The Black and Yellow have won each of their last seven Bundesliga matches played on a Sunday. It is the longest current winning streak of all current Bundesliga teams on this day, with their only longer run coming in 2015-16 (eight).

Freiburg, by contrast, have won just two of their last 14 Bundesliga Sunday games (D8 L4), although these two victories have come in their most recent two such matches.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Freiburg – 30.7%

Draw – 26.1%

Borussia Dortmund – 43.2%