Match Result: Manchester City v Borussia Dortmund
According to the Champions League betting sites, Manchester City have a 70% chance of recording a victory at the Etihad Stadium in this game. Since losing 2-0 at home to Spurs, there have been four straight home victories, with Manchester United, Napoli, Burnley and Everton among the teams who have been beaten at this ground.
This is the second of three consecutive home matches for Pep Guardiola’s side who play this game in between clashes against Bournemouth and Liverpool in the Premier League. The last European assignment was a 2-0 success against Villarreal, with the Cityzens having the lion’s share of possession and recording seven shots on target.
However, their European matches have also included a 2-2 draw away to Monaco. There’s a weakness defensively and they were recently beaten 1-0 at Villa Park where they failed to land any meaningful punches at the other end. There’s also the fact that Dortmund are unbeaten in Europe this term and they’ll be aiming to continue a successful Champions League journey.
Dortmund began the group stage with a crazy 4-4 draw away to Juventus where they led 4-2 until the dying embers of the match. There was then a spectacular 4-1 success against Athletic Bilbao before Kovac’s side were able to flex their attacking muscle in Denmark. A 4-2 success against Copenhagen was recorded and they’ll come to England feeling confident.
The draw would be a great outcome for the German side and we can see this being a closer-run thing than the odds suggest. Dortmund pushed Bayern Munich relatively close when losing 2-1 in Der Klassiker, with a recent penalty shootout victory being earned at Eintracht Frankfurt in the German Cup.
Goals Under/Over
There’s a 70% chance that there will be Over 2.5 Goals recorded in this clash between Manchester City and Borussia Dortmund. All three of the latter’s Champions League games have been high-scoring. There was that eight-goal thriller in Turin before five goals were shared against Athletic Bilbao and then six were registered in that encounter against Copenhagen.
Therefore, Over 3.5 Goals and Over 4.5 Goals could be on the radar when it comes to punters wanting extra value. We know that Manchester City have the capacity to run riot, although they haven’t been totally free-scoring at the Etihad Stadium this term. Even a 5-1 win over Burnley wasn’t completely straightforward.
This season, there have been 2-0 home wins over Napoli and Everton, with Dortmund potentially setting up more defensively than usual. However, this is something of a free hit for the visitors and Over 2.5 Goals could well be the play here.
BTTS
The BTTS Yes option is trading at relatively short odds. The bookies think there’s a 64% chance that City and Dortmund score at least one goal apiece. It’s always a big surprise when Pep Guardiola’s side are nullified on home soil or indeed anywhere else. Therefore, it’s more a case of figuring out whether their opponents are able to find the net.
City have played five home matches in all competitions thus far. Four of those games have actually ended BTTS No. There’s certainly a more pragmatic approach from the Cityzens who have also claimed a 1-0 win away to Brentford and there was also a 2-0 Champions League success in Villarreal.
Dortmund are always involved in lots of BTTS Yes games. They currently have a proud record this season of finding the net in every match. They even scored a late consolation goal registered at the Allianz Arena, with the German side potentially getting on the scoresheet. A win for City along with BTTS Yes looks set to be the most profitable route.
First Goalscorer
Erling Haaland had a formidable time at Borussia Dortmund. The Norwegian was able to score 62 goals in the space of 67 games between 2020 and 2022. This excellent goal rate certainly turned the head of Manchester City. They have seen the forward continue his devastating strike rate, with 96 goals registered in the space of 106 matches.
Haaland has eleven goals to his name in the English Premier League this season and he has twenty-four in all competitions. It’s hard to look past the player when it comes to being motivated enough to score in a game such as this. At the very least, you should consider the Bet Builder option where you can put the former Dortmund player to find the net at any time.
Serhou Guirassy is the danger man for Borussia Dortmund even if his goals have dried up since a fast start to the season. The 29-year-old has notched seven times for his club and the Guinea forward was able to score against Athletic Bilbao in the Champions League a few weeks ago. Felix Nmecha was able to fire a brace away to Copenhagen and the 25-year-old was also able to score against Juventus.