Match Preview: Dortmund kick off their 22/23 campaign against Bayer Leverkusen

We’re in for an absolute banger for our first home game of the season, as we take on an absolute top team in the form of Bayer Leverkusen. From the last ten matchups against the Die Werkself, an average of 4,9 (!) goals have been scored, so we can surely expect a fun and intense match against a team whose goal should be nothing else than getting a spot for next years Champions League.

Both teams have had impressive transfer windows so far, and while Leverkusen haven’t made that many acquisitions, they’ve done something that’s equally impressive: keeping all their key players. Names like Patrick Schick, Moussa Diaby and Edmond Tapsoba have been mentioned in numerous transfer rumors for the past couple of months, but Leverkusen has really done well in terms of keeping hold of them. Both Patrick Schick and Florian Wirtz have extended their contracts, which clearly shows the ambition from the board.

Leverkusen ended on four win-streak last season, securing them a third place in the Bundesliga. Patrick Schick established himself as a top striker, collecting 24 goals last season, grabbing second place for the Torjägerkanone below a certain Polish striker who now resides in Catalonia.

Many writers and commenters have predicted that Leverkusen will be one of the top four teams for this season, and they’ll surely be looking to start off their season strong.

Expected Line-Up

Our boys in black and yellow will of course be without Sebastien Haller, who’s currently undergoing chemotherapy. They’ll also be without Niklas Süle, who picked up a knock in the cup game against 1860 Munich. Salih Özcan returned to team training last week, so he’ll most likely be placed on the bench.

Leverkusen will be without supertalent Florian Wirtz, who’s still recovering from a cruciate ligament rupture. They’ll also be without french forward Amine Adli, while Karim Bellarabi remains in doubt for the clash.

You could argue that Terzic should field a partnership up front with Malen and Adeyemi, but they’ve both looked best on the wings throughout the preseason. This means that Moukoko will once again lead the line for BVB, which I’m honestly not too confident about based on his latest showings.

Prediction

Oh f#?k, I need to be optmistic here, don’t I? It’s literally the first game of the season, and anything could happen. If SV Elversberg can bang four goals against Die Werkself, surely we can manage something similar, right?

I have to believe Dortmund will pull through in front of a sold-out Westfalenstadion for this one. I predict a 3-2 win for Terzic’s troops, with Malen building on his great showing from last match.