LIPSIA – BORUSSIA DORTMUND | Saturday 3.30pm
The first day of the Champions League ’caused’ two excellent exonerations. The first involved former Chelsea coach Thomas Tuchel, whose defeat in Zagreb against Dinamo was fatal. The second, arriving just hours apart, is that of Domenico Tedesco, who is no longer the Leipzig coach. The Italian-German’s adventure on the bench of the Roten Bullen thus ends after not even a year, in which, moreover, the first trophy (German Cup) in the club’s history arrived. The owners have not forgiven him for his two disastrous performances against Eintracht Frankfurt and Shakhtar Donetsk, two teams who, in the space of a few days, have given Leipzig a total of eight goals.
Only two wins for the red and whites since the season began: against Wolfsburg in the Bundesliga and against lowly Teutonia in the first round of the national cup. For the rest, two draws against Stuttgart and Cologne, as well as the Super Cup drubbing against Bayern Munich, who on 21 August last year, in their first official match, scrambled Szoboszlai and his team-mates 3-5. The Leipzig bench, however, only remained vacant for 24 hours: in place of Tedesco, the club drafted in Marco Rose. Who, coincidentally, will make his debut against his last team, Borussia Dortmund.
The mood is diametrically opposed in the yellow and red environment. Apart from the only defeat against Werder Bremen – a crazy comeback by the green-and-whites in the second half – Edin Terzic’s men have always won, including in their debut match in the Champions League, in which they battered Copenhagen 3-0 at Signal Iduna Park, keeping their goal unbeaten for the third match in a row. In the league, Borussia – currently joint first with Union Berlin – are proving that they are suffering from the absence of Haaland (their tally so far is only eight goals), but on the other hand they have discovered that they are very solid in the non-possession phase.
The Prediction
It remains to be seen whether the change in Leipzig’s bench will produce the desired shake-up: in our opinion there will be a reaction, but not to the extent that they will be able to beat a team in such great form as Borussia Dortmund. The Gialloneri should avoid defeat in any case in an entertaining match with at least three goals in total.
Leipzig-Borussia Dortmund likely line-ups
- LIPSIA (3-4-1-2): Gulacsi; Simakan, Orban, Gvardiol; Henrichs, Laimer, Kampl, Raum; Szoboszlai; Nkunku, Werner.
- BORUSSIA DORTMUND (4-2-3-1): Meyer; Wolf, Hummels, Schlotterbeck, Guerreiro; Bellingham, Özcan; Brandt, Reus, Reyna; Modeste.
POSSIBLE RESULT: 1-2
