Guirassy's brace with Ryerson's touch pushes Dortmund to landslide win

Although everyone keeps waiting for the moment when Dortmund will stumble in their pursuit of Bayern Munich and lose ground once again, Niko Kovac's side is in its best form since the Bundesliga season started.

With a commanding 4-0 demolition of Mainz on Friday night, the Black and Yellows claimed their sixth consecutive league victory and now await Bayern's trip to Bremen on Saturday afternoon, sitting just three points behind the Munich giants.

The clash at the Westfalen had two heroes: Serhou Guirassy and Julian Ryerson. The former scored a double, the latter provided his teammates with four assist. All four. All four goals arrived via headers, as three of them came before the break.

On the other hand, the Guinean striker has scored five goals in his last three league matches, reaching 11 for the season and emerging as the spearhead of Kovac's thrilling run. Dortmund have struck 47 times this season - impressive, yes - but the Bavarians' staggering 79 goals underline where the biggest gap between the two title rivals still lies.

Yet over the past month, Dortmund have become ruthless. Relentless. Ryerson's assists pushed him into double digits in the Bundesliga (11), and he now boasts 13 across all competitions.

Kovac's men remain the only unbeaten team in the Bundesliga (nine wins, two draws), turning their stadium into a fortress. Just eight goals conceded at home, 26 scored, and seven clean sheets. Not only the best record in Germany, but one of the most imposing across Europe's top five leagues.

If the dream is to stay alive until February 28, when Bayern arrive in Dortmund for what could be a seismic showdown, the winning streak must continue. That, however, will be a monumental task. A trip to Leipzig awaits next weekend, sandwiched between two Champions League play-off battles against Atalanta.

The chase is alive. The fire is burning. Now comes the real test.

BUNDESLIGA - MATCHDAY 22

Friday

Dortmund - Mainz 4-0 (3-0)

/Guirassy 10,42, Beier 15, Bensebaini 84/

Saturday

17.30: (2.00) Eintr.Frankfurt (3.50) M' gladbach (3.80)

17.30: (2.55) Hamburger (3.30) Union Berlin (3.05)

17.30: (1.75) Hoffenheim (4.00) Freiburg (4.75)

17.30: (1.50) Leverkusen (4.20) St.Pauli (6.75)

17.30: (8.00) Werder (6.00) Bayern (1.33)

20.30: (1.48) Stuttgart (4.40) Koln (6.75)

Sunday

17.30: (1.87) Augsburg (3.50) Heidenheim (4.20)

19.30: (1.48) RB Leipzig (5.00) Wolfsburg (6.00)

***odds are subject to change***