Tottenham Hotspur will be hoping to get their 2017-18 Champions League campaign off to a winner start so they can, hopefully, avoid crashing out of the competition in the group stages like they did last season. It will not be easy because Borussia Dortmund are an excellent team who have more European know-how than Spurs.
The English side met the Germans in the Europa League in 2015-16 and lost 5-1 over two legs. They lost 2-1 at home and then 3-0 on the road mainly because they had no answer for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s lightning pace and his world class finishing; the Dortmund forward already has six goals in five games this season.
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Although Tottenham will miss midfielder Dele Alli through suspension, it is their record at Wembley Stadium that gives more cause for concern. Spurs are playing at Wembley until their new White Hart Lane stadium is completed, but they cannot seem to get used to playing there. Tottenham only won one of their four 2016-17 European home games at Wembley and this is their only victory there across 11 games spanning nine years.
Already this season, Spurs have been held to a 1-1 draw by Burnley and lost 2-1 to Chelsea at home; the Wembley hoodoo seems to be very real. If Tottenham are going to get anything out of this match they need to supply Harry Kane at every opportunity. It took Kane four league games to score his first goals of the season, then he bagged a brace in the impressive 3-0 away win at Everton last weekend. Kane is -110 to score anytime and +335 to be the first goal scorer.
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Dortmund, who finished third in the Bundesliga last season, travel to London with their squad thin on numbers. Marc Bartra, Julian Weigel, Erik Durm, Sebastian Rode, Marcel Schmelzer and Raphael Guerreiro are all confirmed absentees through injury, while Neven Subotic and Andrew Schurrle are rated as doubtful. Then there is the fact Dortmund failed to replace Ousmane Dembele who left to join Barcelona for €105 million. Dembele scored 22 goals in 81 games and made 28 assists so the talented youngster is going to be sorely missed by the Dortmund faithful.
Peter Bosz, the Dortmund coach, has stated his side will be playing for all three points because he sees it as being a two horse race between his side and Spurs for second place in Group H and that should see an open and attacking game of soccer at Wembley.
Since conceding two goals against Bayern Munich in the German Super Cup, BvB have not leaked a goal for 360 minutes. During the same period they have scored 10 goals, showing they are a solid unit. Most of their attacking threat stems from Aubameyang, who scored three goals against Spurs in that aforementioned 5-1 win, and the +350 on Aubameyang scoring first and the -105 on him putting the ball in the Spurs net before the final whistle look like shrewd bets to make.
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The most popular correct score looks to be a 1-1 tie at +600 with a Spurs 2-1 win priced at +850. I do not think either side would be happy with a draw, which is available to bet on at +255 simply because they know a win tonight would set them up nicely for that coveted second place finish behind Real Madrid even though this is the first of six group stage games they will play.
My money, despite their horrific form at Wembley, is on a Spurs win at +120. Dortmund’s squad has been ravaged by injuries so this is the perfect time for the Lilywhites to be playing them. If Tottenham cannot get the job done and scoop all three points tday, it makes you wonder if they are cut out for Champions League soccer.
Category : Betting Picks
Tag : Borussia Dortmund , Champions League betting , Tottenham Hotspur , uefa champions league
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