Borussia Dortmund vs Sporting Lisbon
UEFA Champions League, KO: 20:00 Sep 28, 2021, Westfalenstadion
BORUSSIA DORTMUND host Sporting Lisbon hoping to kick on from a good start to their Champions League group stages, with the Portuguese side attempting to recover from a horror opening game.
The Germans were too good for Besiktas in the first game and eased to a win in Istanbul that was easier than the 2-1 scoreline suggested with the hosts only getting their consolation in injury time.
Sporting suffered a catastrophic battering at the hands of Ajax when the Dutch cracks hammered them 5-1 in Portugal in a chastising evening for Ruben Amorim's side.
Domestically, Sporting have been doing okay – they are unbeaten after seven games, although they trail city rivals Benfica who have a 100 per cent record.
In the Bundesliga, Dortmund suffered their second league defeat of the season at the weekend when they crashed to a disappointing 1-0 defeat at Borussia Monchengladbach, although that was the injured duo of Erling Haaland and captain Marco Reus and they are already four points behind hated rivals Bayern Munich after four games.
But in a European sense, Marco Rose's side are expected to win.
How the bookies view it
Dortmund are clear favourites and are prohibitively odds-on everywhere. The best price is the 2/5 offered by Novibet.
Sporting are a huge 9/1 with SBK, while the draw is 9/2 with William Hill.
Recent head to heads
The clubs met in the 2016 Champions League and Dortmund won in the Westfalenstadion 1-0 as you can see below.
It completed a double for Dortmund who had earlier won 2-1 in Portugal in the Group Stages.
Players to watch
Erling Haaland is expected to return after a slight ‘muscular' problem that kept him out of the weekend game. With seven Bundesliga goals in five starts, the Norwegian phenomenon will always be favourite to score although he's just 4/9 with bet365 to net.
There could be a splash of value for a Sporting player to score. On loan Manchester City defender Pedro Porro has scored in his last two games and takes the penalties for Sporting. He's a huge 11/1 with Unibet to score anytime.
Anything else catch the eye?
Neither side look particularly full of confidence going into this one. Dortmund looked lost with Haaland and Reus and Sporting needed a last minute penalty to beat Maritimo at home.
However, although they were thrashed at home by Ajax, it was an odd game because they had plenty of the ball and had loads of chances. They just got picked off by a clinical Ajax side.
With nether defence impressing, the both teams to score looks to have a real chance at 10/11 with SBK.
And if Dortmund can't start their talisman striker or if he isn't fully fit they look a different team. Sporting are worth a go on the double chance of a win or a draw at a generous 13/5 with 10Bet.
This UEFA Champions League match between Borussia Dortmund and Sporting Lisbon will be played on Sep 28, 2021 and kick off at 20:00. Check below for our tipsters best Borussia Dortmund vs Sporting Lisbon prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
