BVB Aim High in the Bundesliga

Borussia Dortmund vs Eintracht Frankfurt

Football returns to the Signal Iduna Park as Borussia Dortmund host Eintracht Frankfurt in a heavyweight Bundesliga clash.

BVB boss Lucien Favre is working to build a team capable of taking on the league champions Bayern Munich, who are going for a seventh successive win. And last year’s DFB Cup winners, Eintracht, are always ready to provide a stern test.

The 81,000-capacity stadium will be packed and the Yellow Wall will be deafening in its role of roaring the Dortmund team on. Victory will mean that Favre’s charges will go top of the league, maybe only for a day, but that’s where the whole city wants to be.

Talking Points

Bundesliga 2018 odds have pitched BVB as potential title winners, but a frustrating 0-0 draw away to Hannover was a small setback, following a great home win to RB Leipzig.

There were few chances at either end as the Hannover team made it difficult for BVB, though Dortmund skipper Marco Reus and Max Philipp came closest for the visitors, both crashing the woodwork.

After the first two rounds of Bundesliga 2018 results which saw two wins each for FC Bayern, Hertha Berlin and Wolfsburg, BVB are fourth and ready to make an assault on the leading three. And Favre has some stellar talent at his disposal led by Reus.

Their £20 million-star buy Axel Witsel already has two goals in his bank and looks capable of being the creative force behind BVB this season. And in midfield, Favre has a real jewel in 23-year-old Julian Weigl. Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola sees him as a natural successor to Fernandinho in a defensive midfield role, but he will have to pay around £68m for the young star if he intends to swoop at Christmas.

And young English winger Jadon Sancho is an exciting talent, featuring off the bench in BVB’s first three games and providing two assists. These are early days for the 18-year-old, but his junior coach in the English league has likened him to Neymar. If he can reach the heights of Brazil’s captain, then England—and maybe BVB—will have some player on their hands.

Eintracht Frankfurt boss Adi Hutter wants to bounce back on their next game following their defeat to Werder Bremen — Eintracht Frankfurt boss Adi Hutter gestures to his players during their clash with Werder Bremen

The man tasked with masterminding a shock result at the Signal Iduna Park is new Eintracht boss Adi Hutter. The former Austrian international became the first Austrian coach to win a league title abroad, taking Young Boys to the title and breaking Basel’s eight-year domination of the Swiss Super League in the process.

So impressive was Hutter’s achievement in Switzerland that he was rumoured to be a target for FC Bayern, had the Bundesliga champions failed to land Niko Kovac. But Kovac heading to Munich has opened the door for Hutter to bring his coaching skills to Frankfurt.

He’s had a mixed start: an opening day win in Freiburg was followed up by a home defeat at the hands of Werder Bremen which left Eintracht in ninth place. But a win will lift them into the top four, and anything other than defeat will mark very decent progress for Hutter.

Attacking midfielder Ante Rebic will be a key man for Eintracht if Hutter can persuade him to stay in Frankfurt. Following a two-year loan, the combative tackler has signed a four-year contract. However, he has been tracked by top Premier League clubs Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur after a series of battling performances in Croatia’s incredible run to the World Cup final.

Midfielder Jonathan de Guzman can still open up a defence, having provided a goal for French striker Sebastian Haller in the season opener. And experienced winger Nicolai Muller knows where the goal is, as he was also on target following his summer switch from Hamburg.

History

BVB are the Bundesliga’s best-supported club with a rich history, having won the league title eight times (the most recent successes in 2011 and 2012) and the DFB Cup four times (the last one in 2017).

The highlight of Eintracht’s 2017/18 season was their DFB Cup Final win over FC Bayern in which Rebic scored a brace. It was a first major trophy in 30 years for the one-time Bundesliga champions.

The hosts come into the game with more momentum, having won four and drawn one in the last five, while the Frankfurt club has won two and lost three—though they have back-to-back away victories.

Both teams have warmed up with big club friendly wins, BVB 0-6 at Osnabruck and Eintracht 0-5 at Ederbergland.

The head-to-head record is very much in BVB’s favour, with 24 wins to Eintracht’s ten and only ten draws.

Betting Tip

	Borussia Dortmund vs Eintracht Frankfurt	BVB -1.25 @ 1.99
	September 15, 02:30 (GMT+8)

The SBOBET odds point to a home win at odds of 1.44, while you can get 4.30 on a draw and 7.00 for a surprise away win.

Frankfurt are available at 1.94 for a win with the +1.25 start, but I think BVB have too much ammunition and the Yellow Wall will have a good night.

We should see plenty of goalmouth action as BVB reach for the top. Each of the last five games between these two teams has yielded three goals or more, and for the weekend match, Over 3.00 goals is at 1.92.