Dortmund vs Bayern Munich Prediction, Betting Tips & Preview

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Haydn Cunningham Mar 01, 2016 @ 09:47 pm

Tommy Tuchel couldn’t have imagined a much better start to his managerial career at Borussia Dortmund after taking over the boisterous Jurgen Klopp. Klopp was adored by millions but Tuchel has guided Dortmund into the last 16 of the Europa League, semi-finals of the DFB Pokal and are currently sitting 2^nd in the Bundesliga. Not many can keep the pace with high flying Bayern Munich but a gap of 8 points can be reduced to 5 with victory on Saturday. It’s a tough ask against a side that hasn’t lost since the start of December but Dortmund have proved in recent years they’re capable of stepping up to the occasion. Dortmund were given a scare against Hoffenheim on Sunday as they went 1-0 down before a red card gave Dortmund the man more that they took full advantage of. 3 goals in the final 12 minutes sealed a 3-1 victory to extend their winning run to 6 and they’ve conceded just 2 in that run.

Pep Guardiola watched his side comfortably see out a 2-0 victory away to Wolfsburg which was in contrast to their result against Juventus a few days earlier where they squandered a 2-0 lead. It was the perfect response to the draw in Turin and what will please Guardiola is the timely return of some of his star assets with crucial Champions League games coming up. Mario Gotze and Franck Ribery were on the bench with the latter coming on as a substitute and providing the assist for Robert Lewandowski’s strike. They still have problems defensively but David Alaba and Joshua Kimmich have held their own despite being considerably inexperienced as central defenders. Munich have been banging the goals in of late having scored at least 2 goals in each of the past 5 matches.

Dortmund are the only side keeping tabs with Munich in the league not only in terms of points but goals scored. Bayern Munich have scored 58 goals in 23 league games and Dortmund trail them by just 1. Munich are in a league of their own defensively as they average just under 1 goal every 2 games. Munich gained revenge for the DFP Pokal Semi- Final defeat on penalties back in April by thumping Dortmund 5-1 at the Allianz Arena earlier this season. Robert Lewandowski has scored 5 in 5 against his former side and he’ll be desperate to perform heading back to his old stomping ground for only the 2^nd time since switching clubs in the summer of 2014.

Tuchel could well spring a number of changes as Dortmund performed poorly for the first half and eventually woke up deep into the second. Ilkay Gundogan came off the bench and looked to be at the heart of all Dortmund’s attacking moves whilst Adrian Ramos came off the bench to score. Mats Hummel’s missed the victory but will be desperate to face Munich. It was a similar story for Bayern Munich as they improved with the introduction of Thiago Alcantara and Franck Ribery. Munich also have their leading central defender out as Jerome Boateng remains side lined.

Borussia Dortmund

Stats: W-17 L-3 D-3

Recent Form – WWWWW

Bayern Munich

Stats: W-20 L-1 D-2                                          

Recent Form - WDWWW

Head-to-head record:

Possible Line-ups

Borussia Dortmund (4-2-3-1) – Burki, Piszczek, Subotic, Bender, Schmelzer, Gundogan, Weigl, Mkhitaryan, Kagawa, Reus, Aubameyang

Bayern Munich (4-3-3) – Neuer, Lahm, Alaba, Kimmich, Bernat, Xabi Alonso, Thiago, Muller, Robben, Costa, Lewandowski

Injury List/Suspended Players

Borussia Dortmund – Papastathopoulos (inj)

Bayern Munich – Martinez (inj), Boateng (inj), Badstuber (inj)

League Positions