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Borussia Dortmund vs Darmstadt 98 Predictions, Betting Tips, & Match Preview

  • 13:30
  • Expired
  • Signal Iduna Park
Borussia Dortmund
Darmstadt

Borussia Dortmund vs Darmstadt Predictions

Borussia Dortmund’s new all-star cast for the 2016/2017 season hasn’t kicked off to the perfect start they would’ve hoped for. Plenty of new faces were on show in their opening 2-1 win over Mainz 05 with newly signed centre back Marc Bartra from Barcelona, 19 year old winger Ousmane Dembele from Stade Rennais, Sebastian Rode from Bayern Munich, and Andre Schürrle from Wolfsburg all featuring in the starting eleven – Schürrle assisted both of striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s goals. Mario Götze, who “re-signed” for Dortmund over the summer, was absent from their opener but featured in their shock 1-0 defeat away to newly-promoted RB Leipzig last weekend. Dortmund soon bounced back to form in their mid-week fixture in the UEFA Champions League, however, with a thrilling 6-0 win away to Legia Warsaw in their opening group stage match.

Darmstadt 98’s overall performance and eventual survival in the Bundesliga last season came as a huge surprise to many who thought that, for a relatively small side, back-to-back promotions with very little investment,would almost certainly see their demise. Darmstadt’s worsening form towards the end saw them slide slowly down the table, eventually finishing just two points above the relegation zone. While they were one of the Bundesliga’s most efficient chance converters in front of goal last season, 65.5% of recorded chances resulted in a goal, and the fourth-best team on the road last season, we feel Darmstadt will have a hard time replicating that this time around after the transfer of Sandro Wagner to TSG Hoffenheim – something that was displayed in their opening 2-0 defeat away to FC Cologne.

Darmstadt’s performances so far this season without “superstar” Sandro Wagner, who scored fourteen goals over 32 appearances for the club, have been unsurprisingly bleak. Wagner was, by %, not only Darmstadt’s most involved player, when combining assists and goals scored, but one of the most vital players for any team in the Bundesliga last season. Darmstadt have made no signings that come close to replacing his “irreplaceable” role in their squad, and were very lucky to take away all three points at home to Frankfurt last weekend, registering just 27% possession and fewer attempts on goal.

Coming into this off the back of a 6-0 Champions League win doesn’t change too much. Dortmund are the obvious favourites for this match with the bookies pricing them at 1/7 to take away all three points. We don’t find much value in an outright Dortmund win at this price, unless adding them to an accumulator. Instead, we feel there is really decent value in a lower scoring win for the hosts here. Even taking into account Wednesday’s six goal haul, Dortmund have only scored an average of 2.2 goals per game over their five competitive fixtures so far, and under 3.5 goals were scored in nine of their last ten matches. Dortmund’s home form at Signal-Iduna-Park is often enough of a reason to expect a win, unbeaten on their home turf twenty-two matches (W19 D3), but we also expect Dortmund to hold their first clean sheet of the season against a side as weak as Darmstadt, who have scored just one in their opening two matches.

As such, Borussia Dortmund to win and under 3.5 goals at 6/5 and Borussia Dortmund to win 2-0 at 11/2 with bet365 are our choice bets for this match.

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