Borussia Dortmund sit top of the Bundesliga with 12 points from four games, but the international break has brought fresh defensive concerns that could test the squad's depth heading into a congested schedule. Nico Schlotterbeck suffered an ankle ligament injury during a Germany training session, and while surgery has been ruled out, his availability for the Werder Bremen home fixture on October 9 remains uncertain. The situation worsened when right-back Julian Ryerson was substituted after just 16 minutes of Norway's defeat to Wales, having already left the field early against Portugal days earlier. With Ryerson the only natural right-back in the squad following Yan Couto's summer departure to Como, Niko Kovac has limited cover and may need to repurpose Daniel Svensson or Maximilian Beier in that role.

The injury news arrives at an otherwise positive moment for the club. Kovac has quietly built something impressive since taking charge in February 2025, most notably cutting the squad's injury rate by around 60 percent through a rigorous prevention programme built around blood tests, saliva tests, grip-strength checks, heart-rate monitoring and nutrition tracking. That record makes the current double injury blow feel like an exception rather than a pattern. On the pitch, the team has won five consecutive matches across all competitions, scoring 13 goals and conceding just two. With Werder Bremen next in the Bundesliga and a Champions League trip to Bodø/Glimt on October 14 to follow, how Kovac manages his defensive resources over the coming weeks will define whether this early-season momentum holds.