So a chastening defeat for Bundesliga leaders Dortmund in this Matchday 24 curtain-raiser - and one that could prove very costly in their bid for a first league title since 2012. Champions Bayern Munich, who are chasing their seventh straight crown, will now be looking to close the three-point gap at the top as they travel to their old rivals Gladbach on Saturday. Thanks very much for joining us - and do tune in again tomorrow for more spectacular Bundesliga action. Tschüss!

Dortmund have the ball just inside Augsburg's half. 

Augsburg have now covered almost eight kilometres of ground more than Dortmund, it's around 83 to 75. The rain is still hammering down as Bruun Larsen is smacked with a ball right in the groin. That must have hurt.  

Not much to report in this second half so far. Dortmund are yet to have a shot on goal - but they've just won a free-kick in a decent position. 

It's tipping it down at the WWK Arena at the start of this second half, which isn't necessarily good news for Dortmund. They already struggled to find their fluent passing game on the slightly ragged Augsburg pitch in the first half.

  Dortmund had 67 per cent of possession in the first 45 minutes and won over half of their challenges, but major chances were admittedly few and far between. Just like in the reverse fixture, then, Augsburg lead 1-0 at the interval. Will we see Paco Alcacer coming off the bench to score another hat-trick, as he did in October's 4-3 win? 

  PACO TO THE RESCUE?   Dortmund had 67 per cent of possession in the first 45 minutes and won over half of their challenges, but major chances were admittedly few and far between. Just like in the reverse fixture, then, Augsburg lead 1-0 at the interval. Will we see Paco Alcacer coming off the bench to score another hat-trick, as he did in October's 4-3 win? 

Well! This wasn't necessarily in the script, but Augsburg have done an excellent job in the first half, working hard for each other and making the most of their rare chances, with Dong-won Ji getting the opener on 24 minutes. Dortmund have had their opportunities - with Jacob Bruun Larsen coming closest - but their frontmen have so far been frustrated by an impressive Gregor Kobel. No doubt plenty of drama still to come after the break - join us again in 15 minutes or so. 

After those two defensive mistakes early on, Augsburg and Dortmund are now sizing each other up. Pretty even so far. 

The hosts get us underway in Augsburg - and they've gone straight for a rugby-style kick into the far corner.

As you would expect there's a cracking atmosphere here at the WWK Arena as the players make their way out onto the pitch. Last time they played here, Augsburg took the lead in the very first minute against Bayern Munich. Can they catch Dortmund napping at the start of this one? 

So, Marco Reus is back after a four-game absence - the BVB captain got injured in the DFB Cup defeat to Werder Bremen last month - and he will be looking to inspire the Bundesliga leaders to victory over a struggling Augsburg side; they're currently 15th in the table with just one win in 14 league outings. A win would put Dortmund temporarily six points clear of champions Bayern Munich, who have a tough trip to Borussia Mönchengladbach on Saturday evening. 10 minutes until kick-off!

Get the kids to bed, order up your pizza, make sure there's something nice and cold in the fridge... we're half an hour away from Bundesliga Matchday 24!

Danish winger Jacob Bruun Larsen is making his first Bundesliga start of the calendar year tonight. The 20-year-old hasn't been in Favre's line-up since the 2-1 loss to Fortuna Düsseldorf in mid-December - Dortmund's only league defeat of the campaign so far.

Roman Bürki will be making his 150th Bundesliga appearance tonight - his 116th for Dortmund after 34 with Freiburg in 2014/15. The Switzerland keeper's top-flight debut came against Eintracht Frankfurt back in August 2014, while his third outing was a 3-1 defeat to future club BVB.   

Manuel Baum has only made two changes from his side's painful 5-1 loss at Freiburg, and one of them is enforced: suspended centre-back Reece Oxford is replaced by Kevin Danso. Meanwhile Andre Hahn slots back into attack after recovering from a calf injury, with Sergio Cordova dropping to the bench.

BVB coach Lucien Favre has made three changes from last weekend's 3-2 win over Bayer Leverkusen. Out go Julian Weigl, Raphael Guerreiro and Paco Alcacer, in come Thomas Delaney, Jacob Bruun Larsen and Marco Reus.

Good news for Bundesliga leaders Borussia Dortmund: their captain and talisman Marco Reus is back in the starting line-up for tonight's clash with Augsburg. Recently described as "BVB's answer to Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo" by teammate Thomas Delaney, the 29-year-old is undoubtedly key to his side's hopes of lifting the Meisterschale again this term. 

Hitz, Alcacer, Guerreiro, Philipp, Wolf, Weigl, Toprak

Bürki – Hakimi, Akanji, Zagadou, Diallo – Witsel, Delaney – Sancho, Reus (c), Bruun Larsen – Götze

Giefer, Götze, Stanic, Janker, Callsen-Bracker, Cordova, Teigl

Kobel – Schmid, Khedira, Danso, Stafylidis – Koo, Baier (c) – Ji, Max – Hahn, Gregoritsch

Dortmund have yet to taste defeat on a trip to the WWK Arena, having won six and drawn two of their eight away games in Augsburg in all competitions. Even more impressively, BVB have only been behind for 33 of the 630 Bundesliga minutes they have played at the home of Die Függerstadter .

Augsburg have scored in each of their last 10 Bundesliga meetings with Dortmund - their best run against any current top-flight side - while BVB have found the back of the net in all but two of their league games this term, putting away a Bundesliga-high 57 in total. Surely (don't jinx it) it won't end goalless this evening?!

The Bundesliga leaders have arrived at the WWK Arena for the Matchday 24 opener. It'll be time for the warm-up soon enough, and keep an eye out for confirmed teams in about half an hour or so. To Reus or not to Reus - that is the question.

Dortmund's victory over Leverkusen last time out was their 16th of the Bundesliga season - one more than they managed throughout the whole of 2017/18. If they can see off Augsburg tonight, Favre's men will remain on course to pick up more wins than they did in their most recent title-winning seasons of 2010/11 (23) and 2011/12 (25). However, Bayern Munich's staggering all-time Bundesliga record of 29 wins in a campaign - in 2012/13 and 2013/14 - is already beyond them.

Interestingly, Augsburg are the current Bundesliga team against whom Dortmund coach Lucien Favre has the worst record. In nine career matches (eight with Gladbach, one with BVB), the Swiss tactician has overseen two wins, three draws and four defeats against FCA, taking an average of one point per match. Then again, you could argue that he has a 100% record against Die Függerstadter as Dortmund coach, thanks in no small part to Paco Alcacer…

Speaking of team news, there are a handful of players who definitely won't be taking part in tonight's game. Among them are Augsburg's English centre-back Reece Oxford, who picked up a three-match ban after his red card against Freiburg last week, and Dortmund defensive duo Marcel Schmelzer and Lukasz Piszczek, who are both sidelined with injury. For further info, check out our team news article in the 'News' tab above.

As the handy ticker above you shows, we've got around two and a half hours to go until kick-off - time really flies when you're having fun, doesn't it? Meanwhile we can expect the teams to drop at around 7.30pm. Good time to watch full highlights of the reverse fixture if you remembered to record it...

Last Sunday, Dortmund's Jadon Sancho made Bundesliga history (again) by becoming the youngest player to reach nine goals (eight this season), at 18 years and 336 days. The England winger, who bettered Lukas Podolski's previous mark, will be gunning for double figures this evening - and if his recent performances are anything to go by, Augsburg left-back Konstantinos Stafylidis is in for a rough old night.

Maximilian Philipp turns 25 today, and the Dortmund forward will be hoping to celebrate the occasion against Augsburg, especially if he gets the nod from Favre ahead of Reus. In case you're interested (and why wouldn't you be?), Philipp last played on his birthday five years ago, scoring a goal as he helped the Freiburg reserves to a 7-2 away win over Wormatia Worms in the Regionalliga. Definitely my new favourite stat related to this game. Another nine-goal thriller on the cards tonight?  

Even though they're on home soil, the bookmakers don't fancy Augsburg's chances of causing an upset against Dortmund tonight, especially after a poor run of results in the Bundesliga; heavy defeats to Werder Bremen (4-0) and Freiburg (5-1) either side of a narrow loss at Bayern Munich (3-2). But Manuel Baum says his men can take inspiration from the reverse fixture as they look to claim just a second win in 15 league outings. "We all know how well we played in Dortmund," the FCA coach said. "Of course it is good to have these positive images in your head going into a rematch. If we prevent Dortmund from having any time to build up their style of play and we press them, we can definitely take something against BVB."

There was quite the barnstormer when Augsburg travelled to face Dortmund back on October 6th. Alfred Finnbogason's 22nd-minute strike gave the visitors a half-time lead, but Paco Alcacer came on for Maximilian Philipp on the hour mark to turn the game on its head. The Spaniard equalised twice for 1-1 and 2-2 after Philipp Max had restored Augsburg's advantage, before Mario Götze gave BVB the lead for the first time on 84 minutes with his first league goal in eight months. Michael Gregoritsch thought he'd rescued a point for the visitors when he struck with three minutes to go, only for Alcacer to complete his hat-trick in injury time with a sensational direct free-kick and snatch a 4-3 win for Dortmund. Just your average Saturday afternoon kickabout in the Bundesliga!

Dortmund don't have an amazing recent record against Augsburg - three of their last five Bundesliga meetings have ended 1-1, and they needed a dramatic late winner from Paco Alcacer to triumph 4-3 in October's reverse fixture at the Signal Iduna Park. On their most recent trip to the WWK Arena, in September 2017, BVB ran out 2-1 winners thanks to goals from Andriy Yarmolenko and Shinji Kagawa, who have since joined West Ham and Besiktas (on loan) respectively. "We have to prepare well for Augsburg as they are an interesting team that can change their approach quickly," the Swiss tactician insisted. "In our last match they played superbly and applied great pressure. We have to play with a higher work rate and make no mistakes."

One of the biggest question marks ahead of tonight's game is the fitness of Dortmund captain Marco Reus, who has missed his side's last three league games - plus the Champions League first-leg defeat to Tottenham - with a hamstring injury. The BVB talisman is back in the squad tonight but may start on the bench as a precaution. "Marco Reus is training with the squad again, it was his second session today," coach Lucien Favre said in Wednesday's pre-game press conference. "We have to be sensible and monitor his play with the squad. We need to consult with the doctor to make sure everything is clear." Augsburg will certainly be hoping Reus misses out - the 29-year-old has notched up five goals and five assists in his 12 career meetings with Die Függerstadter.  

Hello everybody and welcome to our live text coverage of tonight's Matchday 24 curtain-raiser between Augsburg and Borussia Dortmund. After last weekend's dramatic 3-2 win over Bayer Leverkusen, leaders BVB are hoping to claim back-to-back Bundesliga victories for the first time since January and open up a temporary six-point gap on champions Bayern Munich, who travel to Borussia Mönchengladbach on Saturday. Tonight's hosts FCA have lost their last three league games - conceding 12 goals in the process - and come into this one hovering just two points above the relegation play-off place. 

Welcome along to the match centre for the game Augsburg vs. Dortmund from matchday 24 of the 2018/19 Bundesliga season at the WWK ARENA. Check back here for full information on the match.