As the first major European League to return to action, the Bundesliga will be the centre attention this weekend, and the race for the title is well and truly back on.
And there is a good case to put forward that Borussia Dortmund can win the 2020 competition.
Lucien Favre’s team sits in second place in the league table, four points behind FC Bayern. The latest Bundesliga 2020 betting odds here at SBOBET offer 5.80 on BVB to win the title, with Bayern at 1.21 and RB Leipzig still in the race at 11.00.
But there are three good reasons for Borussia fans to believe that this really could be their year.
Favre’s team now goes toe to toe with Bayern
The Bavarians have dominated the Bundesliga, winning the last seven campaigns since Dortmund won back-to-back titles in 2011 and 2012. But the gap has been narrowing of late.
Borussia dominated for much of last season and at one point were seven points clear of the Bavarians, only to lose the title on the final day of the campaign.
That could have been a crushing blow to Dortmund, but Favre’s men have responded superbly this season. They got off to a confidence-boosting start by beating Bayern 2-0 in the DFL Supercup, the German season’s curtain-raiser.
England winger Jadon Sancho stole the show, making one goal and scoring a second as BVB ran out comfortable winners to set down a useful marker.
The leaders hold no fear for the chasers and I expect this season to go to the wire again.
Dortmund’s attacking options
Favre has made some impressive moves in the transfer market after losing Christian Pulisic to Chelsea last summer. Centre-back Mats Hummels returned to the club to shore up the defence and he appears in the Bundesliga’s top five list for headed duels won.
Bringing Hummels back to the Signal Iduna Park was a shrewd move by the head coach, as was the capture of attacking midfielder Thorgan Hazard from Borussia Monchengladbach.
Sancho remains the most exciting attacking talent at the club, though Achraf Hakimi, who arrived on loan from Real Madrid in 2018, has been highly impressive this term. The speedy wing-back has already made ten assists in the current campaign.
Die Schwarzgelben arguably have the most exciting forward options in the league this season. In the January window, Favre moved to bring in Erling Braut Haaland, and the 6ft 4in Norwegian striker has started in spectacular form, scoring nine goals in eight games.
This is an attacking line-up which can carve any defence into shreds with three players, Sancho, Hazard and Hakimi in the top five assist makers in the league, with 45 between them!
Favre will want to keep this team together and the club expects to keep Sancho in Dortmund for at least another season.
The fixtures are in BVB’s favour
With four points to make up on the leaders and nine games remaining, Dortmund need to hit the ground running. But the fixture list, running through to the climax at the end of June, looks favourable for Favre’s men.
What better way to get the Yellow Wall bouncing by starting with the mother of all derbies, at home to Schalke where Die Scwarzgelben start as hot favourites to win at odds of 1.54 here at SBOBET?
Win that match and the gap will be down to a single point before FC Bayern heads to Union Berlin on Sunday. That little bit of pressure might just have an impact on the Bavarians as this will feel like the first game of the season.
Then the tough games come thick and fast for Bayern, with an away match against BVB on 26th May, followed by a trip to fifth-placed Bayer Leverkusen and a home clash with Borussia Monchengladbach.
Dortmund has a big game away to Red Bull Leipzig, but all their other games look winnable.
As the Bundesliga 2020 results begin to roll back in again, the next couple of weeks could turn the tide, particularly if Favre’s team comes out on top in that epic clash with Bayern on 26th May.
Then, if Dortmund is neck and neck with the Champions on the last day of the season, they host Hoffenheim while Bayern makes a difficult trip to Wolfsburg.
It’s about to get interesting!
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