Borussia Dortmund vs Marseille

September 30, 2013
By: Nemanja Lazarevic

Following their respective defeats in opening Champions League matches, both sides need to try and get back to winning ways at Signal-Iduna Park if they are to have a realistic chance of progressing from the group of death. With both Borussia and Marseille impressing on domestic stage, chances are we will see an entertaining encounter in Dortmund.

Must-win game

Borussia Dortmund chiefs have given the team the best possible chance of repeating last season’s success by not only refusing to sell Robert Lewandowski, but also signing Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to replace Mario Gotze. With Polish striker picking up where he left off and the new signings slotting straight into the starting line-up, the Millionaires continued with excellent performances, pipping arch rivals Bayern Munich to German Super Cup trophy while also climbing to the top of the Bundesliga campaign. The 2-1 Champions League defeat to Napoli remains their only under-par result so far, but the home game against Marseille feels like a perfect opportunity to make things right. Even with several players on the sidelines, Borussia produced a stunning performance to record a 5-0 win over Freiburg at the weekend, and no doubt that victory will keep them in good stead for the OM game. Having won all five home fixtures this season, scoring a total of 18 goals, the Millionaires can be trusted to record another comfortable home triumph.

Marcel Schmelzer has joined Ilkay Gundogan and Sebastian Kehl in the infirmary, but Sven Bender should be fit to start.

Marseille back on track

Following several very difficult years, Marseille have been showing a great deal of improvement ever since Elie Baup took over the reigns from Didier Deschamps last summer. Despite not really performing according to expectations, the French giants have managed to keep hold of their star players in spite of heavy interest from abroad, while also signing several very good players this summer. The likes of Payet, Thauvin, Imbula, Lemina and Mendy should be the backbone of OM in years to come, with some of them already showing glimpses of quality. As a result, Marseille have done brilliantly to keep up with free-spending Monaco and PSG, seeing as they are just one point adrift of their title rivals after eight Ligue 1 rounds, but the team have continued to struggle in Europe. Having lost at home to Arsenal in their opening match, the French side face a mountain to climb in their attempt to reach the Champions League knockout stages. However, given team’s poor run in Europe and impressive form of their next opponents, Marseille don’t look they can get something from Dortmund.

Star striker Andre-Pierre Gignac is going to be sorely missed, while full-back Jeremy Morel is the other unavailable player at the moment.

Verdict

While failing to cope with star-studded Napoli side, Borussia Dortmund have been absolutely brilliant in every other fixture this term, which is enough to make them hot favourites to defeat Marseille. The French side are also looking good at the moment, but the absence of in-form striker Andre-Pierre Gignac is likely to prove a major issue.

Top pick: Dortmund/Dortmund   1.83 (5/6) @ Skybet

Alternative pick 1: Dortmund with -1.5 Asian handicap   1.85 (17/20) @ Ladbrokes

Alternative pick 2: Dortmund to win to nil   2.40 (7/5) @ Coral

Unbeatable FREE BET Package!

888Sports have just taken free bet promotions to another level! New customers can now get  £/€/88 in Free Bets + 20 Free Spin Spins + Up to 5 “No Lose Bet”. All you need to do is place of at least £/€/$10 with 888Sports to get up to  £/€/$88 in Free Bets + 20 Free Casino Spins for City Life Slot. And also, make a first mobile bet of at least £/€/$1 with minimum odds of 1.5 to get up to £/€/$5 “No lose Bet” on Mobile.

We Highly Recommend These Places
Share your Opinion!