BVB’s second win in the top flight?

What about Haaland and Reus? This question is currently on the minds of all BVB fans. Will the two attacking aces be able to play on Tuesday evening in the Champions League against Sporting Lisbon or will Dortmund coach Marco Rose once again have to do without his arguably two most important attackers?

Before we look at the content and statistics of the second matchday encounter in Group C, it must be stated that between Dortmund and Sporting Lisbon the forecast for the outcome of the match naturally depends on whether Haaland and Reus will be fit in time The lack of depth and impact in the forward play without the two became clear on Saturday evening when BVB lost the top match in the Bundesliga 1-0 in Gladbach.

Despite this, Borussia will go into Tuesday’s home match against the reigning Portuguese champions as clear favourites In the Dortmund vs. Sporting Lisbon clash, the odds on a home win are currently only 1.35 at the top.

By the way, this assessment by the bookmakers with a licence in Germany is not really surprising, because while the Bundesliga team won 2-1 at Besiktas a fortnight ago, Sporting conceded a harsh 1:5 defeat at home against Ajax Amsterdam.

Germany Dortmund – Statistics & current form

Actually, Borussia Dortmund wanted to continue their positive run in the Bundesliga on Saturday night and celebrate their fourth win in a row. However, in the away match at the namesake club from Mönchengladbach, just about everything that could go wrong did go wrong. First, Reus and Haaland had to miss the game due to injury, then Mo Dahoud was shown the red card already in the first half. Outnumbered and without the aforementioned difference makers, the Rose eleven struggled in vain and ultimately lost not undeservedly with 0:1. In the fight for the German championship, the gap to Bayern has thus already grown to four points.

However, the Black and Yellows do not have much time to mourn the loss, as they already have an important home match in the top flight against the Portuguese champions on Tuesday evening. One of the reasons why betting on a win for the home side in Dortmund’s clash against Sporting Lisbon seems almost inevitable is that the CL group stage has been something of a feel-good oasis for BVB in recent years

Make no mistake against clubs from Portugal

The Westphalians have now not lost at home in Europe’s most important club competition for nine preliminary round matches. During this period, which now spans four seasons, they have won six and drawn three. Dortmund have also kept their clean sheet on six occasions. It is therefore extremely difficult for visiting teams to take three points at Signal Iduna Park.

For representatives from Portugal, the degree of complication is even multiplied, because in six home games in the European Cup against teams from the country of the 2016 European champions, Borussia has six wins and a goal difference of 17:2. In purely statistical terms, there is therefore no basis whatsoever for checking the odds on a surprise coup on Tuesday evening between Dortmund and Sporting Lisbon.

Will Haaland and Reus be fit in time?

Only the still prevailing lack of clarity regarding the deployment of Erling Haaland and Marco Reus leaves one or two question marks open. However, because both players only have minor injuries (Reus capsule irritation, Haaland muscular complaints), the chances are pretty good that BVB coach Rose will be able to call up his key offensive players again. Anyone who still needs proof that they are indeed absolute top performers should take a look at Erling Haaland’s statistics. In Champions League home games, the Norwegian scores every 63 (!) minutes!

Predicted Dortmund line-up:
Kobel; Meunier, Akanji, Hummels, Guerrero; Bellingham, Dahoud, Witsel; Malen, Haaland, Hazard

Last matches played by Dortmund:

Portugal Sporting Lisbon – Statistics & current form

Surprisingly, Sporting Lisbon once again won the title in the Portuguese top flight last season. After 19 years in the doldrums, the Green-Whites not only took the crown, but also conceded only one league defeat in the entire season, and that on the penultimate matchday at city rivals Benfica (3:4), when the championship was already in the bag.

Thanks to this success, Lisbon are back in the Champions League group stage for the first time since 2017/18. However, the start to the international adventure went anything but according to plan for coach Rúben Amorim’s team. In their home match against Ajax Amsterdam, Sporting were hardly competitive and ultimately suffered a heavy 1:5 defeat. For the first time in their own Champions League history, the Portuguese side are now threatened with an opening two defeats in a row.

Is Sporting pushing their own limits again?

In view of the impressions from the first match, a prediction on the underdog in the Dortmund versus Sporting Lisbon clash is naturally associated with a lot of risk. Not least because the Leões have lost seven of their last eight Champions League matches and have just one win in 14 encounters against German teams, regardless of the competition.

At least their form is something to be proud of: In the domestic league, CR7’s youth club has made a promising start with five wins and two draws from seven matches. The pride of the current third-placed team is still its defence, which has not conceded a goal in four of the seven games mentioned above. However, as we all know, the calibre of players waiting on the European stage is different to that in Portugal, and Ajax Amsterdam scored almost half a dozen goals in Lisbon a fortnight ago, so BVB should also be able to defeat the underdog in front of their home crowd in style.

Predicted line-up of Sporting Lisbon:
Adan; Neto, Coates, Feddal; Porro, Palhinha, Nunes, Vinagre; Sarabia, Paulinho, Santos

Last matches played by Sporting Lisbon:

Dortmund – Sporting Lisbon Direct comparison / H2H record

Back in the 2016/17 season, both teams were selected to a joint preliminary group in the UEFA Champions League. At that time, Dortmund prevailed in the first and second legs. They won 1-0 at home and 2-0 away, and in both cases BVB were already ahead at half-time. Combined with the aforementioned statistic that the Black and Yellows have won all European home games against Portuguese clubs so far, there is a lot to be said for betting on a three-goal win for the favourites once again.

United Kingdom Dortmund – Sporting Lisbon Portugal Tip

A small preliminary decision could already be made in Group C on the second matchday. Should Ajax Amsterdam win at home against Besiktas in the parallel match and BVB also win their home match against Sporting Lisbon, the Dutch-German representatives would be six points clear in the top two places and would hold all the aces in the rest of the preliminary round.

Although this first paragraph contains a lot of subjunctive, the betting odds in the Dortmund vs. Sporting Lisbon match alone underline that a three-goal win for the Bundesliga team seems extremely likely. An implied probability of occurrence of 73% ensures that coach Marco Rose’s team are house-high favourites, although he will only decide at short notice whether Erling Haaland and Marco Reus will be available. As of Monday, the tendency is more towards “yes”.

For this reason, among others, we are clearly convinced that betting on Borussia in the match between Dortmund and Sporting Lisbon is most worthwhile. We even go for double the HT1/FT1 result and thus predict a home win for the Black and Yellows, with them already leading at half-time.

Alternatively, it is also possible to bet on the home side winning by at least two goals or scoring at least four goals in the course of the match. The Portuguese already lost 1:5 against Ajax Amsterdam in the opening game and will not be able to do anything against the excellent atmosphere at Signal Iduna Park. Nothing stands in the way of a commanding home victory