Dortmund – Gladbach

The two Borussias, Dortmund and Monchengladbach, will square off in the first round of the German Bundesliga, a really interesting football match.

Dortmund will start life without Jurgen Klopp (and under ex-Mainz boss Tuchel) at home, but they have a very tricky match against a solid opponent. The hosts had a poor 2014/2015 season and it wouldn`t be a surprise if they struggle without Klopp, but they did keep pretty much the same team, the only big name departure being Immobile – but he was largely disappointing last year. On the other hand Dortmund brought in Castro and Burki, so the squad looks good and the preparation period was excellent. Additionally, Dortmund already played three competitive games this season, 1-0 and 5-0 against Wolfsberger in Europa League, 2-0 vs. Chemnitzer in the Cup.

Borussia Monchengladbach had a terrific season last year, finishing third, challenging for the 2nd place until late on. Similar to Dortmund, Gladbach had a good pre-season and they also won 4-1 in the DFB Pokal against St Pauli. The biggest problem for the visitors as the new season starts is that they parted ways with two of their best players (arguably the best), Kruse and Kramer. Gladbach brought in very solid replacements, at least Drmic is on par with Kruse in terms of quality, probably even better – but it`s always tough when you depart with the backbone of your team.

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Team news & lineups:

Grosskreutz, Sahin, Subotic, Kirch and Durm are out for Dortmund. Weidenfeller will likely be dropped to the bench. Gladbach will have to do without Nordtveit, Dominguez, Stranzl and Hahn.

Dortmund: Burki – Schmelzer, Hummels, Sokratis, Piszczek – Gundogan, Bender – Mkhitaryan, Castro, Reus – Aubameyang

Gladbach: Sommer – Jantschke, Christensen, Brouwers, Wendt – Stindl, Xhaka – Hazard, Herrmann, Raffael – Drmic

Both teams have their claims today. Dortmund can argue home court advantage (Gladbach is not that great away), the fact that they kept pretty much the same squad and their edge in competitive matches with that Europa League tie. Gladbach on the other hand was the better team last year and they did not change the manager. I believe Klopp’s departure will have a short term negative effect and looking at how consistent Gladbach is (even in pre-season they kept the same intensity), I believe they can snatch a point. We all know how vulnerable Dortmund is on counterattacks and Gladbach is the perfect team to punish them on the break.

I expect a nice game of football, with Gladbach’s consistency making the difference. If Dortmund wins, it will likely be a close one, but I don`t believe they will be able to get the three points. My tip is Gladbach to cover the 0,75 asian handicap. Prediction: Borussia Dortmund – Borussia Monchengladbach 1-1.

Pick: Gladbach (+0,75 Asian Handicap)
Odds: 2.00 @ Sbobet
Stake: 7
Possible profit: 7
Event date: 15 August