Manchester City v Borussia Dortmund: Hard-working visitors can keep it close against Haaland-powered Citizens | OneFootball

UEFA Champions League

Will Erling Haaland enjoy his reunion with Borussia Dortmund?

Manchester City and Borussia Dortmund are both unbeaten in this season's Champions League, and Kevin Hatchard anticipates a stubborn showing from the German giants.

Manchester City v Borussia DortmundWednesday 05 November, 20:00Live on TNT Sports

Haaland in devastating form ahead of Dortmund reunion

It will be no surprise to anyone at Borussia Dortmund that Erling Haaland has conquered all before him since his move from Germany to Manchester City. After all, the Norwegian rattled in 86 goals in 89 Dortmund appearances, including a hat-trick on his debut.

Haaland has won the Champions League and a pair of Premier League titles at the Etihad, and his record of 141 goals in 159 games for Pep Guardiola's men is truly phenomenal. In Sunday's 3-1 win over Bournemouth, Haaland bagged a brace, taking his Premier League tally to an astonishing 13 goals in 10 games.

Pep Guardiola has called for other players to step up and shoulder the goalscoring burden, but with Haaland is such devastating form, that doesn't seem necessary unless he gets injured. There is certainly plenty of creativity in the team - Rayan Cherki is beginning to blossom after injury, while Jeremy Doku is one of the most exciting dribblers in Europe. After last season's confusing slump, Phil Foden feels like he's on the way back to his top form.

City have made an unbeaten start to their Champions League campaign. Napoli were beaten after the Italian champions were reduced to ten men, City gave up a late leveller in a draw at Monaco, and in the most impressive of the three displays City cruised to a 2-0 win at a Villareal team that hadn't previously lost at home.

Mateo Kovacic is still out with an ankle problem, but there are few other concerns. With a crucial clash against Liverpool on the horizon, Guardiola may be careful with Rodri, and Nico Gonzalez could get the nod instead.

Kovac has made Dortmund a more serious team

When Niko Kovac was parachuted in to save Borussia Dortmund's season in January, he took over a team that was well short of qualifying for the Champions League. Things got worse before they got better - the Croatian only won one of his first four games - but a late-season surge saw BVB sneak into a top-four spot on the final day of the campaign.

Kovac also managed quarter-final spots in both the Champions League and Club World Cup, and has been handed a new contract. The former Bayern Munich and Eintracht Frankfurt boss has ironed out some of Dortmund's famed inconsistency, but it remains to be seen whether he can lead the team to a much-desired trophy.

Dortmund are seven points behind flawless Bayern in the title race, but that's a very high bar to reach. Perhaps more instructive is how comfortable Die Schwarzgelben have looked in the Champions League, rattling in four goals in each of their three league-phase games and putting seven points on the board.

Kovac is also using his experience to aid the development of Jobe Bellingham, who has had a mixed start to life at Signal Iduna Park. Kovac was a fine midfielder in his day, as were sporting director Sebastian Kehl and CEO Lars Ricken, so there's plenty of tips and tricks available for Bellingham should he want them. Bellingham caught the eye in the 4-2 Champions League win in Copenhagen, and also impressed in the DFB Pokal against Eintracht Frankfurt.

Dortmund have few injury concerns, with defensive duo Niko Schlotterbeck and Niklas Süle likely to be fully fit and available after illness and injury respectively.

Stubborn Dortmund can keep it close

Borussia Dortmund's only defeat this season in any competition came in Der Klassiker, as they lost 2-1 at Bayern Munich. They were demolished in the first half, and should have been three or four goals down, but they hung in there, and nearly snatched a point in the second half.

Across 2021 and 2022 these teams met four times in the Champions League, with City winning on three occasions and the other game ending in a 0-0 draw, but none of the City wins was by more than a goal. That's the route I'm taking here, because I'll back Borussia Dortmund +1.5 on the Asian Handicap at . I think BVB are capable of scoring at the Etihad, and they rarely lose under Kovac, let alone capitulate.

Schlotterbeck at the heart of the action

Since his return from injury, Dortmind defender Nico Schlotterbeck has been in excellent form, and it's no surprise to learn that Bayern have him on their list of summer targets. The German international is a determined defender with a lovely left foot, and he's steadily maturing, having previously been quite a rash tackler.

We can get a price of 23/20 on the Sportsbook's Bet Builder for Schlotterbeck to foul and be fouled in this game, and against good sides who press high, he tends to be fouled as he looks to bring the ball out from the back. He was fouled twice against Bayern, once against Leipzig and once against Eintracht Frankfurt in the DFB Pokal.

Schlotterbeck has also committed a foul in five of his last seven competitive starts.

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