Bundesliga: The Yellow Wall Is Set for Der Klassiker

Borussia Dortmund vs Bayern Munich

The biggest day in the Bundesliga diary is looming as Borussia Dortmund gets ready to welcome FC Bayern on Saturday for the first Klassiker of the 2022/23 campaign.

These are early days in the German league but this is a third-versus-fourth clash as the two giants currently trail FC Union and SC Freiburg at the top of the table. The latest Bundesliga 2022 betting odds are still squarely behind the Bavarians to win another German title at a price of 1.12 with Borussia Dortmund the team most likely to challenge at odds of 11.00.

Dortmund are strong at home in the Signal Iduna Stadium and, with the legendary 25,000-strong Yellow Wall behind them, the hosts and their fans will make this a tough night for the reigning champions.  

Talking Points

Dortmund must find a way without Reus

Dortmund’s Bundesliga 2022 results have been pretty good to date but, last week, they spurned a chance to go clear at the top of the league when they fell to a 3-2 defeat away to FC Cologne, and now head coach Edin Terzic must lift his team for the biggest domestic match of the season.

And he’ll have to do it without talismanic captain Marco Reus, who is sidelined with a serious ankle injury picked up in Dortmund’s victory over Schalke in September. Terzic has a team full of good young players, with 19-year-old Jude Bellingham one of the first names on the team sheet. The box-to-box midfielder is one of the most highly rated players in European football, with his ability to break up play and find the killer pass, or take players on with his super tight ball control.

17-year-old striker Youssoufa Moukoko has had a breakthrough as BVB’s latest wunderkind and he has already scored two goals and made two assists this season. But Dortmund need some old heads for a game of such magnitude and the experience in the side comes from the likes 31-year-old Belgian defender Thomas Meunier and Julian Brandt, who scored in the defeat to Cologne to make it two for the campaign.

These players have been there before and can guide the young guns through, but

Borussia have a face-off with Sevilla in the Champions League on Wednesday, so they have one day less than Bayern to prepare.  

Bayern back with a Bang

The way the Bavarians dismantled Bayer Leverkusen last week with a 4-0 thumping washed away any fears that the recent defeat to Augsburg might signal a weakening of Bayern in the post-Lewandowski era.

Young midfielder Jamal Musiala continued his impressive run of form, scoring a goal and making two as Bayern dispatched Leverkusen with ease, while Leroy Sane, Thomas Muller and Sadio Mane scored the other goals.

Musiala now has five league goals and three assists and Sadio Mane has four, and head coach Julian Nagelsmann knows he can still rely on experienced forward Thomas Muller, who has three assists and two goals and is still producing without his old mate Lewy.

Bayern hammered Viktoria Plzen 5-0 in the Champions League on Tuesday night as Leroy Sane scored a brace and so, with nine unanswered goals in the last two games, we can safely say they are back with a bang.

History

FC Bayern have won 43 of the 78 Klassikers played over the past three decades, while Die Schwarzgelben have won 19 and there have been 16 draws. But BVB have not tasted success over the last eight encounters, losing the last six with a goal difference of 19 to ten. Bayern have scored three or more in each of the last six meetings and the lowest scoring outcome was a 3-1 victory in Munich last April. 

Both teams have won three of their last six games, though Bayern have drawn two and lost once while Dortmund have lost their other three, before the match with Sevilla on Wednesday.

BVB are strong at home though, winning three on the bounce at the Signal Iduna Stadium without conceding a goal. 

Betting Tip

In the 1X2 market the hosts are at SBOTOP odds of 4.36 to win or draw at 4.07, while the champions are odds on at 1.60.

The Bavarians have got over their recent blip quite spectacularly and will fancy their chances, but if Borussia can make a strong start to the game the Yellow Wall will give them an edge.   For an alternative bet, Over 3.50 goals would have paid out in the last few Klassikers and can be backed at 1.95 this time around.

 

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