Borussia Dortmund will look to seal their place in the last-16 of the Club World Cup, as they take on already-eliminated Ulsan in Cincinnati on Wednesday night.
Niko Kovac’s side began their Club World Cup campaign with a goalless draw with Brazilian side Fluminense in a game with very few clear-cut chances.
However, their following game was the complete opposite, as they defeated South African champions Mamelodi Sundowns 3-4 on an evening our man SlipsTips landed a full house of winners.
Lucas Ribeiro gave the South Africans an 11-minute lead with a sublime solo-goal, but goals from Felix Nmecha, Serhou Guirassy, Jobe Bellingham and Khuliso Mudua (OG) ultimately gave Die Schwarzgelben all three points despite a late scare.
Ulsan, on the other hand, began their Club World Cup campaign with a 0-1 defeat against Mamelodi Sundowns.
However, they did give Fluminense a scare on MD2, as goals from Lee Jin-hyun and Won-Sang Um gave the K League 1 champions a 1-2 lead at the interval.
However, goals in the second half from Nonato, Juan Freytes and Keno gave the Brazilians all three points and eliminated Ulsan.
How the bookies view it: Dortmund clear favourites
Unsurprisingly, Borussia Dortmund are firm favourites with the bookmakers to collect all three points, with BoyleSports pricing them at just 1/5.
The same firm has a shock Ulsan victory at 10/1, whilst the draw is 5/1.
Head to head: First-ever meeting
Unsurprisingly, this is these two sides first-ever meeting.
Players to watch: Guirassy to grab another goal?
Serhou Guirassy fired in 34 goals in the Bundesliga and the Champions League last season since his move from Stuttgart last summer and got the second against Mamelodi Sundowns last time out, but is just 11/20 to score at BoyleSports.
Erick Farias is Ulsan’s leading scorer, having netted eight times in the K League this season, and he is 4/1 at BoyleSports to get his opening goal in this competition.
Predicted Lineups
Niko Kovac had the luxury of bringing on the likes of Marcel Sabitzer, Julian Reyrson and Karim Adeyemi off the bench against Mamelodi Sundowns, so it’ll be interesting to see if the Croat will bring any of them in from the start here.
With Ulsan already eliminated, it will be interesting to see if Kim Pan-gon shuffles his pack or keeps with a similar starting 11 to the one that started their defeat to Fluminense.
Borussia Dortmund: Kobel; Sule, Anton, Bensebaini; Couto, Nmecha, Gross, Svensson, Bellingham, Brandt, Guirassy
Ulsan HD: Hyeonwoo, Sang-woo, Trojak, Young-gwon, Jae-Ik, Ludwigson, Seung-beom, Bojanic, Jin-hyun, Won-Sang, Farias
Anything else catch the eye?
I’ve already pointed out that Serhou Guirassy is too short to back on his own to score anytime, so combining a Borussia Dortmund win and a goal for the Guinea international pays 3/4 at Bet365, which seems like a solid selection.
The ex-Stuttgart forward has scored in seven of his last eight appearances for Die Schwarzgelben – including the second against Mamelodi Sundowns last time out – and will relish facing an Ulsan defence that has already shipped five goals across their opening two matches.
Whilst Dortmund should win, they have conceded in 13 of their previous 16 encounters in all competitions, and given Ulsan have scored in nine of their last 10 matches, a Dortmund Win and Both Teams to Score at 17/10 with BoyleSports is an alternative selection.
GambleAware