Check out this in-depth analysis of the Round 6 matchup that will take place on Saturday in Dortmund between Borussia Dortmund and their guests from Monchengladbach.
Two Borussias will lock horns on Saturday too and that’s the duel that requires our full attention. Both teams are currently in the top part of the league table and team from Dortmund is a current leader as they’re coming off from their fourth season win during the midweek against Hamburger SV on the road. Monchengladbach on the other side defeated Stuttgart at Borussia Park and the fact that both teams are in good form currently ensures us that we shall witness an epic showdown between eternal rivals.
Dortmund vs. Borussia Monchengladbach
Three-Way: 1: Dortmund -208; X: +1000 Draw; Borussia Monchengladbach +750
Spread -1.5: Dortmund +120; Borussia Monchengladbach -106
Total +3.5: Over +106; Under -109
DORTMUND
The Borussia Dortmund team is the current leader of the German Bundesliga caravan with 13 total points earned and 4-1-0 record. They haven’t yet conceded a goal while scoring 13. The only flop occurred in week 3 when they recorded a goalless draw against SC Freiburg on the road. The Yellow-Blacks haven’t won the national league title for six years and almost perfect season start raises the fans’ hope that they could finally take down Bayern of its perch. Still, there is some reason for concern because Dortmund has shown some weaknesses already. Aforementioned draw in Freiburg shouldn’t end that way because Dortmund team had one player more for a large part of the duel after one of Freiburg’s players got sent off but they couldn’t find the way towards the opponents’ net. Also, they started the UEFA Champions League play with a road loss in London against Tottenham at Wembley, 3:1 and during the next week they will host the defending European champion Real Madrid at Westfallen as part of the round two of the group stage.
On the stat sheet, the team is showing some big numbers as they score 2.60 goals per match. Four of five matches in the league had over 1.t goals in total while one of those matchups had over 4.5 goals in total. They failed to score in only one game so far and they managed to score at least one goal in both halves in 80% of the matches. Against Hamburger SV coach Bosz started with the 4-1-2-3 scheme with Piszczek, Sokratis, Toprak and Zagadou in the defensive line. Roman Burki was between the bars while Nuri Sahin started at the defensive midfielder position. Castro and Kagawa operated as a backup for the attacking trio consisted of Yarmolenko, Aubameyang, and Pulisic. Kagawa, Pulisic, and Aubameyang got themselves on the scoreboard by scoring one goal each. They had the ball in their possession in 53% of the time and they recorded 24 total shots towards the opponents’ goal oppose to only eight by HSV. Individually, Pulisic and Yarmolenko presented the biggest danger for HSV’s goalie Mathenia with three shots towards the goal each while Gonzalo Castro and Mahmoud Dahoud dominated the passing segment with 88.2% and 90.9% of completed passes. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is the squads’ leading scorer with five goals so far.
Dortmund’s injury list is quite long at the moment and that makes their current success even greater. Marcel Schmelzer (ankle), Eric Durm (hip) and Raphael Guerreiro (foot) are all expected to be back during the next month while Hendrik Bonmann’s (knee) and Marco Reus’s (cruciate ligament) timetable for return is set for November. Jeremy Toljan with a hip injury and Marc Bartra with a groin injury are both listed as doubtful for Saturday while Sebastian Rode’s (groin) status is unknown. Great news for Dortmund’s fans is that Andre Schurrle (thigh) is back in training.
BORUSSIA MONCHENGLADBACH
The five-time German champion Borussia Monchengladbach team is far away from their former success but there have been some moves in the positive direction lately. The team appeared in the UEFA Champions League group stage two years ago after finishing ranked third in the national championship but a similar success stays out of reach for now. Nevertheless, there is still plenty of time to improve the form and enter the battle for the European competitions spots.
Currently, they rank seventh in the league table with eight total points earned and 2-2-1 record. Their goal difference is 7-5 (4-4 away) and they are still undefeated on the road. Both visiting matchups ended exactly the same with 2.2 draws in Augsburg and Leipzig while lone defeat came against Eintracht Frankfurt at home and presented a big upset for the fans. The team is averaging 1.40 goals scored and 1.00 goals conceded per match while 40% of their overall games had over 3.5 goals in total. In one of those five games, they managed to score at least one goal in both halves and in one they managed to concede at least one goal in both halves.
In a win against Stuttgart on Wednesday, coach Hecking started with a traditional 4-4-2 scheme with Wendt, Vestergaard, Ginter, and Elvedi in front of goalie Sippel. Hazard, Zakaria, Kramer, and Herrmann operated in the middle of the field while Raffael who was a double scorer in this game and Stindl finished the game at center-forward positions. The team had a slight advantage in ball possession time (54%) but they recorded 12 total shots towards the opponents’ goal oppose to Stuttgart’s 15. Obviously, they were a bit more accurate than their guests from Baden-Wurttemberg. Individually, double scorer Ricardo Raffael was the most dangerous player in front of the Stuttgart’s goal with four total shots while Lars Stindl and Jannik Vestergaard dominated the passing segment with 85.2% and 92.8% of completed passes. Raffael also tops the team in scoring with that two goals on Wednesday.
Laszlo Benes (broken foot) is out until mid-December while Tobias Strobl (cruciate ligament) isn’t expected to be back until February 2018. Ibrahima Traore (thigh) should be ready in a few weeks while Raul Marcelo Bobadilla’s (muscle) and Kwame Yeboah’s (muscle) status is unknown. Christoph Kramer (head), Yann Sommer (knee) and Jonas Hoffmann (muscle) are all listed as doubtful while Josip Drmic (knee) is back in training. Vicenzo Grifo (knee) and Mamadou Doucoure (thigh) are listed as day to day.
Dortmund vs. Borussia Monchengladbach – Match Prediction
The last five matchups between these two hated foes had four or more goals in total and there is no reason to think that it won’t be the case this time. Both last years’ matchups went Dortmund’s way (3:2 win in Monchengladbach, 4:1 win in Dortmund) and the last time Monchengladbach emerged victorious at Westfallen was in 2014 (2:1 win). The current form indicates another triumph by the Black and Yellows but over 3.5 goals in total is a much safer bet. On the other side, both teams score makes a lot of sense because it’s about time Dortmund concedes a goal in the national league.
My pick: Over 3.5 goals (+106)
