Bundesliga: Dortmund’s Big Chance to Dent Bayern’s Title Dream

Bundesliga: Dortmund’s Big Chance to Dent Bayern’s Title Dream

Bayern Munich vs Borussia Dortmund

Borussia Dortmund have been out of Bundesliga championship contention for some time now, but they can still have a big impact on the title race when they take on Bayern Munich in Der Klassiker.

Bayern have had a few stumbles in recent weeks, which has seen their lead over RB Leipzig at the top of the table shrink to just two points.

And now, they host rivals Borussia Dortmund, who have been playing some of their best football of the season in recent weeks. With stars Jadon Sancho and Erling Haaland in flying form, Edin Terzic’s side will be eager to put a big dent in the Bavarians’ title aspirations.

But Bayern finally have their key players back after their recent absences, and the Bundesliga 2021 betting odds will have them favoured to continue their recent run of dominance against Dortmund.

Talking Points

Bayern getting healthy again

After a couple of disappointing Bundesliga 2021 results — a 3-3 draw with Arminia Bielefeld and a 2-1 defeat to Eintracht Frankfurt — Bayern Munich have bounced back in impressive fashion.

They thrashed Lazio 4-1 in their Champions League round-of-16 first leg, then crushed Koln 5-1 in the league.

Bayern are finally getting their full squad back after a recent string of injuries and COVID absences significantly depleted their depth.

Serge Gnabry and Thomas Muller both returned from their respective layoffs against Koln and played well. Gnabry bagged a brace while Muller supplied his league-leading 11th assist of the season after they came on as substitutes.

Meanwhile, Robert Lewandowski just continues to rack up the goals. He added two more goals against Koln and is now up to 28 goals on the season. With 11 matches remaining in the season, he has a realistic shot at breaking Gerd Muller’s all-time record of 40 goals in a single Bundesliga season.

At the back, right-back Benjamin Pavard is back in training, although it might be too soon for him to start. Niklas Sule has played at right-back over the last few games, but with the magnitude of the match, Joshua Kimmich could be asked to play his old position.

Dortmund still unbeaten since Rose news

Borussia Dortmund have been on fire ever since it was confirmed that Marco Rose would be coming in as their new coach next season. They have won four out of four matches, which includes their DFB-Pokal quarter-final tie against Rose’s Borussia Monchengladbach in midweek.

Jadon Sancho scored the only goal as he continues his recent hot streak. The young English star has six goals and five assists in his last nine games.

Sancho has been playing more on the left wing in recent games, and he could do some damage to the Bayern defence, especially if Sule continues playing at right-back.

Fellow Dortmund wunderkind Erling Haaland has failed to get on the scoresheet in his last two games, but he has still been in equally fine form, scoring eight goals with three assists in his last nine games.

Defensively, Dortmund have kept three straight clean sheets, which is a promising sign. But they still have some injury issues at the back, with defensive midfielder Axel Witsel and centre-back Manuel Akanji out. Left-back Raphael Guerreiro was also subbed out just five minutes into their win at Gladbach and is questionable to play.

History

Bayern have dominated Der Klassiker over the last few years. They have won their last four league meetings with Dortmund and seven of the last eight. They have also scored four or more goals in four of those eight games.

Bayern have been especially dominant at home. The last four Der Klassikers at the Allianz Arena have resulted in 4-0, 5-0, 6-0, and 4-1 wins for Bayern. Dortmund’s last win in Munich came all the way back in 2014.

Bayern won their first match of this season, 3-2. Robert Lewandowski got one of Bayern’s goals as his terrific record against his old club just gets better and better. He has now scored 19 goals in 22 matches against Dortmund in his career.

Betting Tip

Bayern Munich Asian Handicap -1.00 @ 2.00

Unsurprisingly, SBOTOP odds still have Bayern pegged as massive 1.62 favourites to win Der Klassiker at home. Dortmund are priced at 4.70, while a draw is 4.20.

While Dortmund have looked promising in recent weeks, it’s still hard not to pick Bayern in this one. As their wins against Lazio and Koln have shown, they are still a force to be reckoned with when they are anywhere near full strength.

With Muller and Gnabry back alongside Lewandowski, they should have more than enough attacking quality to pick up another comfortable home win over their rivals.

Disclaimer: Odds are correct at time of publish.

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