Prediction: Borussia Dortmund to win 2-0
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Borussia Dortmund and Borussia Monchengladbach will face each other in the opening weekend of the 2020-21 Bundesliga game.The match at Signal Iduna Park is scheduled to kick off at 5:30pm UK time on Saturday. It promises to be a hugely exiting game and should be an entertaining affair for the onlookers.
Borussia Dortmund
Borussia Dortmund will be looking to have a better season than they had during the 2019-20 campaign. Dortmund have established themselves as serious and consistent challengers to Bayern Munich for the Bundesliga title, but things were far from ideal in 2019-20. Although Lucien Favre’s side ended up second in the standings, they finished as many as 13 points behind eventual leaders Bayern. Although Dortmund pushed the Bavarian giants in the opening months of the season, after football restarted following lockdown, Hans-Dieter Flick’s side simply raced ahead and left everyone behind in their wake.
Dortmund will be determined to go again this season and give Bayern a run for their moment. As in previous seasons, FC Hollywood will kick off the new campaign as favourites, but Dortmund should not be written off. Die Borussen have been quite busy in the summer transfer window, with the club bringing in right-back Thomas Meunier on a free following his departure from Paris Saint-Germain, midfielder Jude Bellingham from Birmingham City and midfielder Reinier on loan from Spanish and European giants Real Madrid. Perhaps more importantly, star winger Jadon Sancho is still at Dortmund despite intense speculation linking him with a move to Manchester United in the summer transfer window.
Team news
Dan-Axel Zagadou and Marcel Schmelzer are injured at the moment and are out of the game, while there are doubts over the availability of Nico Schulz and Mateu Morey.
Borussia Monchengladbach
Borussia Monchengladbach have steadily progressed over the past few season and are now one of the sides who will seriously challenge for the Champions League places. Marco Rose’s team finished fourth in the Bundesliga during the 2019-20 campaign and will have aspirations to do the same in 2020-21. Die Fohlen have moved up from ninth to fifth to fourth in the last three seasons and have progressed lot on the pitch.
Monchengladbach have been quite busy in the summer transfer window so far, although their new signings have not been very high-profile. Midfielder Hannes Wolf has joined on loan from Bundesliga rivals RB Leipzig, while Valentino Lazaro has switched on loan from Inter Milan and Joseph Scally will officially move to the German club from New York City in January 2021. Monchengladbach, though, still have a strong squad, with Michael Lang, Alassane Plea and Marcus Thuram still at the club.
Team news
Breel Embolo, Valentino Lazaro, Andreas Poulsen are unavailable for the game against Dortmund, while Laszlo Benes is doubtful.
Key Factors to Consider
Dortmund have finished second in the Bundesliga for the past two seasons.Dortmund last won the Bundesliga back in 2011-12.Monchengladbach finished fourth in the Bundesliga last season.Monchengladbach lost against Dortmund in the last game between the two sides.Dortmund have won against Monchengladbach in the past 11 meetings.
Conclusion
While it is not going to be easy by any means Dortmund on Saturday evening, it is hard to see anything but a home win in this game. Dortmund will have learned their mistakes from last season and will be determined to pick up all three points from their opening game of the new campaign.
Prediction: Borussia Dortmund to win 2-0
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