Borussia Dortmund Clear Betting Pick vs Koln
Post-Bellingham Era Begins
Last season, Borussia Dortmund survived without Erling Haaland. In fact, they almost won the Bundesliga title. Midfielder Jude Bellingham was crucial, but now he plays for Real Madrid. Even so, the team is heavily favored in the soccer odds to defeat Koln in the 2023-24 season opener. However, keep in mind that Koln only lost in two of their last six meetings.
Borussia Dortmund: Good Start
While the Bundesliga campaign begins this weekend, almost every team already played an official match thanks to the DFB Pokal. That list includes Borussia Dortmund, who crushed TSV Schott 6-1.
Sebastien Haller was named Player of the Match after scoring a brace. Julian Brandt, Marcel Sabitzer, Donyel Mallen and Youssoufa Moukoko also scored.
It’s only the season’s first game, but opening with a victory would allow Dortmund to keep their confidence intact. They deserve to be the -240 betting online favorites, but Koln is way better than TSV Schott.
Last season, they were considerably better at home, finishing with a 14-2-1 record and a goal difference of +38. Unfortunately, they ended up losing the title to Bayern Munich in the last fixture.
“The disappointment of last season is still in our minds. We shall use the trauma as motivation to do better,” said Haller during an interview. Enough said; Dortmund is going all-in right from the start.
Koln: Feisty Underdog
Opening the season on the road and against a title contender is never easy. However, Koln is a well-balanced squad, enough to be considered a tempting soccer betting underdog, especially at +615.
They also had a good start by defeating VFL Osnabruck 3-1 in the first round of the DFB Pokal. Benno Schmitz, Sargis Adamyan and Julian Chabot were the scorers. Koln lost possession and finished with fewer shots on target but were more effective.
Chabot is one of the teams offseason signings. The centre-back used to play for Sampdoria in the Serie A and is expected to become a leader, on and off the field.
Besides advancing in the DFB Pokal, Koln finished the preseason undefeated, thanks to a 2-2-0 record. They scored in all four matches and finished with a clean sheet twice.
Make sure to keep an eye on midfielder Florian Kainz, who last season finished with 10 assists. Also, goalkeeper Marvin Schwabe, who finished with six clean sheets. Not having any superstars doesn’t mean you can’t have a good team.
Borussia Dortmund vs Koln Head-to-Head
Koln’s memories of their last visit to Signal Iduna Park aren’t good. They were crushed 6-1. The first half finished 4-1. Sebastian Haller and Marco Reus scored a brace each. Both will try to repeat that performance on Saturday.
Don’t feel bad for Koln; they won last season’s first meeting 3-2.
Borussia Dortmund vs Koln Match Information
- Match: Borussia Dortmund vs Koln
- Date/Time: Saturday, Aug 19,12:30 p.m. ET
- Location: Signal Iduna Park, Dortmund
- Borussia Dortmund vs Koln Live Stream: fuboTV
Borussia Dortmund vs Koln Betting Lines
Borussia Dortmund vs Koln Picks and Prediction
Regardless of the soccer lines, Koln will put up a good fight but it won’t be enough to pull off the stunner. Borussia Dortmund is one of those teams that truly believes that the best defense is a good offense, especially when playing at home.
Haller is finally at 100% after battling cancer and will be Harry Kane’s main threat in the Golden Boot race. Finally, Dortmund won four of their last five meetings with Koln at Signal Iduna Park. All those victories finished with at least a two-goal difference.
Borussia Dortmund is listed at -240 in our Vegas Bundesliga lines. This means that if you wager $100 on Borussia Dortmund, you have a chance to win $42. The Koln are +615, offering a chance to win $615 on a $100 wager.
The implied probability attached to the betting lines gives Borussia Dortmund a 70.59% chance to win, with Koln at 13.99%.
