Borussia Dortmund will fight Bayern Munich all the way for the Bundesliga title this season, according to former defender Dede.
The 2012 champions have enjoyed a strong start to the season under new coach Thomas Tuchel, winning their first five league matches before back-to-back draws with Hoffenheim and Darmstadt.
Dortmund are four points behind leaders Bayern ahead of their trip to the Allianz Arena on Sunday and Dede, who won two league titles with the club during his career, has no doubt they will pose a genuine threat to the champions this term.
"As a fan, you can say that the battle between Bayern Munich and Dortmund is the most important in the Bundesliga," he told Omnisport. "Bayern are a kind of exception in terms of talent, everyone knows that. But right behind them is Dortmund. It will be a nice fight for the title this year."
While Dede accepts that Pep Guardiola's Bayern will be considered favourites for this weekend's game, he does not believe the result will prove significant to the title race as a whole.
The Brazilian added: "Bayern are playing at home and they will probably be odds-on favourites but even if Dortmund were to win, this game is just too early in the season to say whether the winner will be the clear favourite for the title."
Bayern won both league meetings with Dortmund last season but lost to the Signal Iduna Park outfit on penalties in the DFB-Pokal semi-finals.
