Borussia Dortmund vs FC Ingolstadt Predictions, Betting Tips and Match Previews

After a disappointing first half of the season, Thomas Tuchel’s Borussia Dortmund have propelled themselves comfortably within the top four, thanks to a strong start to the new year. Though Dortmund were disappointing in another defeat on the road last weekend (2-1 away to Hertha Berlin), spirits should still be high following a string of recent positive results: Dortmund’s three consecutive Bundesliga wins prior see them now just 6 points behind 2nd placed RB Leipzig, a 4-0 win at home to Benfica last week prolonged their UEFA Champions League adventure, and the BVB eased themselves through to the semi finals of the DFB Pokal with a 3-0 win away to Sportfreunde Lotte on Tuesday  – a scoreline which sees Dortmund claim a staggering cumulative goal difference of 20-4 over this period.

Ingolstadt, meanwhile, find themselves battling at the opposite end of the table. Coach Maik Walpurgis’ record of 17 points from 14 games is miles better than predecessor Markus Kauczinski (2 points in 10 matches), but a tough set of fixtures (against Hertha, Bayern Munich, Borussia M’gladbach, Frankfurt, Hoffenheim, and Cologne) has seen the South Germans fall seven points adrift from safety. Ingolstadt were hammered 5-2 in their last Bundesliga match on the road and relegation is beckoning ahead of a difficult fixture away to Borussia Dortmund.

Borussia Dortmund are the favourites here at 1/4 with bet365, but we feel backing the hosts “-1.5 Asian Handicap” (Dortmund to win by 2 goals or more) at 3/4 is the better option for the following reasons: Thomas Tuchel’s Dortmund’s are currently enjoying the longest unbeaten run at home in the club’s history – 32 consecutive Bundesliga matches (W26 D6). However, what’s even more impressive is the BVB’s 81% win rate over this streak, which includes wins against Bayern Munich (1-0), Borussia M’gladbach (4-1), RB Leipzig (1-0) and Bayer Leverkusen (6-2) within their last six at Signal-Iduna-Park. Needless to say that Dortmund thrive at home. Meanwhile, Ingolstadt are failing to live up to last season’s survival efforts and their 67% defeat rate on the road shows their inconsistency (W3 D1 L8).

Dortmund are by far the better side on paper and the form of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang – the Bundesliga’s joint top scorer (22 goals in 22 appearances) – should prove particularly troublesome. Aubamayang has scored 8 goals in his last four competitive outings, so we expect him to cause some problems against an Ingolstadt side that have conceded 9 goals in their last three Bundesliga matches. He’d be worth adding to an anytime scorer accumulator at odds of 4/9 with bet365.

Regarding a correct score bet, we don’t see the visitors scoring here. Ingolstadt hold the joint third weakest offense (23 goals scored) – their conversion of one goal per fourteen shots is a Bundesliga low – while Dortmund have kept a clean sheet in 45% of their matches at home. The BVB are in top scoring form and, hence, should ease towards their 2.5 goals scored per match average at the Signal-Iduna-Park. As such, Borussia Dortmund to win 3-0 at 13/2 is a decent shout here.