UEFA Champions League: Borussia Dortmund vs. FC Copenhagen Preview, Odds, Prediction

Borussia Dortmund meets with FC Copenhagen in the opening round of the UEFA Champions League. This is the start of the competition and both teams still have high hopes for it. For the Millionaires, it is the advance to the next round, while on the other side, Copenhagen would be thrilled to finish third and keeps on its European adventure live in the UEFA Europa League. Apart from these two units, Manchester City and Sevilla are also in the assembly.

Preview

Borussia Dortmund (-330) played its last game at home against Hoffenheim, winning 1-0 and presenting not such great football. We have to be realistic and admit that the Millionaires’ performances in recent times are far away from those in the past few years. This team apparently doesn’t have high-caliber players anymore, which immediately reflects on the field.

Their last two wins were over Hoffenheim and Hertha in Berlin, both with 1-0 victories. Now, Borussia has four wins and one defeat in the Bundesliga, but to tell you right away, all the wins were pretty tight apart from the one in Freiburg.

The team isn’t as creative as before, and has a much more conservative style of play, without relentless attacks and pressure like in the past. That is somewhat understandable because the Millionaires don’t have Haaland, Witsel, and several other players.

FC Copenhagen (+750) already has ten competitive games this year. After a very efficient start to the year, the team from the Danish capital slowed down a bit. What we noticed is that their games on the road are very efficient and that only the one in Turkey against Trabzonspor was an exception ending 0-0.

Also, the record away from Copenhagen is neutral, with two wins, two losses, and a defeat, with four of these five games ending with four or more hits. Three were with both teams netting. We also just want to say that Copenhagen didn’t win in the previous two outings.

This team plays interesting football, with a fast pace and quick transition. The players are shooting from all sorts of positions, trying to create pressure in front of the rival’s net. Meanwhile, the defense is fragile and often overexposed, resulting in goals conceded.

Latest News

Adeyemi was out against Hoffenheim, but he should be ready for this one. Dahoud, Guerreiro, and Morey Bauza are all out as well as Sebastian Haller. Malen should be available, according to Edin Terzic’s words.

Copenhagen played without Grabara and Oikonomou in the last round of the domestic league, and both are out for Tuesday.

Head to Head Games

The two sides met 21 years ago in the UEFA Cup, when Borussia won both games in the Round of 32, winning 1-0 on the road and at home.

Prediction

The hosts have to win here, despite their not-so-great performances in recent times. FC Copenhagen is very unstable on the road, which should be a chance for the Millionaires to open the UCL competition with a routine win, probably covering a 1.5-goal spread. The difference in quality is too big for this not to happen.

Pick: Borussia -1.5 -105

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