We saw goals galore in the last two times Borussia Dortmund and Bayer Leverkusen had met. After Borussia Dortmund returned from the Bay Arena with a remarkable 4-3 win, Leverkusen avenged their home defeat with an emphatic 5-2 win, silencing a sea of yellow in the Signal Iduna Park. Will we see another goal fest when the teams meet in their first Bundesliga match of the 22/23 season on Saturday?
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Borussia Dortmund
It’s a new dawn at Borussia Dortmund. The club have parted ways with Marco Rose, sold their premium striker Erling Haaland, and appointed Edin Terzic as the new head coach. Terzic is no stranger to the club, having spent two years at the club as Lucian Favre’s assistant between 2018 and 2020. After Favre’s dismissal, Terzic was the caretaker manager before Rose took the job.
In his brief seven-match spell as the caretaker manager, Terzic had led BVB to Pokal Cup glory. After taking the reins permanently, he hopes to bring more success to the Signal Iduna Park and mount a formidable title charge in the league.
But, Borussia Dortmund suffered a massive blow before the start of new season. They had signed Sebastien Haller as Haaland’s replacement. Haller’s arrival was met with much enthusiasm from the club’s fans as he was coming on the back of a prolific Eredivisie campaign with Ajax. Unfortunately, Haller was diagnosed with a testicular tumour during the preseason, and now he will have to undergo chemotherapy. So, the 28-year-old will be unavailable for an indefinite amount of time.
Captain Marco Reus will also sit out the opening match because of fitness issues. However, the absence of Reus and Haller did not prove to be too compelling when Borussia Dortmund opened their DFB Pokal defence with a 3-0 win over 1860 Munich last Saturday. Donyell Malen showed that he is ready to lead the Dortmund attack as he bulged the net to open the scoring. Jude Bellingham and Karim Adeyemi added to the scoreline later on.
Borussia Dormund finished second in Bundesliga last season, but their defensive record was third-worst among teams that finished in the top ten. To address their defensive woes, Dortmund have brought in Nico Schlotterbeck and Niklas Süle, who boast the best duel and aerial success rates in the league last season.
Bayer Leverkusen
The euphoria of their 5-2 win against Borussia Dortmund would still be fresh in the minds of Bayer Leverkusen players when they return to the Signal Iduna Park on Saturday. Apart from the phenomenal away win against Borussia Dortmund last season, the Werkself have a lot of other reasons to feel confident entering the fray.
Last season, Bayer Leverkusen finished third behind Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund with 64 points. It was the highest amount of points Leverkusen had amassed since the 2012/13 season. Leverkusen players scored 80 goals last season, making it the highest goal-scoring season in the club’s history.
Patrik Schick’s 24-goal-haul was one of the driving forces behind Bayer Leverkusen’s remarkable season. Only Robert Lewandowski scored more goals than the Czech international last season. Undoubtedly, the towering centre-forward will pose the biggest threat to the Borussia defence on Saturday.
Bayer’s preseason record has not been so exciting, however. They have played four matches, won twice, lost one, and drew one. But, the biggest blow came when they lost to Elversberg in the first round of the DFB Pokal. Even though Bayer’s new signing Adam Hlozek got his name on the scoresheet, it was not enough to avoid a 4-3 defeat.
Our Prediction
Bayer Leverkusen went off the rails in their DFB Pokal encounter with 3.Bundesliga Elversberg. They were not in their best shape in their preseason friendlies either. Borussia Dortmund will not have their best attacking assets in Reus and Haller. But, they still have significant threat in their forward line and can take advantage of a disorganized Bayer Leverkusen defence. Our top football betting tips experts predict a 3-1 win for Borussia Dortmund.
Betting Tips
Borussia Dortmund to win @ 2.14
