Borussia Dortmund V Sevilla
Thursday, 30th September – 18:00 GMT
UEFA Europa League
Two teams with contrasting fortunes of late, with Borussia Dortmund flying at the present whereas Sevilla have recently sacked coach Antonio Alvarez and star forward Luis Fabiano has even hinted that he may consider moving on in January if he doesn’t start landing regular starting berths.
Dortmund overcame an opening day defeat to race to five successive wins in the German Bundesliga, with BVB sat in second position and intensifying the pressure on leaders FSV Mainz. The most pleasing aspect about Borussia’s blistering start has been their free-scoring mentality, with coach Jurgen Klopp having seen his team rack up more goals in the league so far than any other side, 16 goals after just six games. And it has been a team effort as well, with Lucas Barrios, Grosskreutz and Kagawa all chipping in with the bulk of Dortumund’s early goals and that can only be positive news for a manager as goals inspire confidence, while victories keep the rest of the team happy.
For Seville, well, too much has been about not a lot in my opinion. The club have recently sacked Antonio Alvarez after the team lost 2-0 away to Hercules in the league last Sunday, while Sevilla were also beaten two weeks ago by PSG in their group opener, so I suppose the club did have reasons to give him the old heave-hoe. Even so, Sevilla have only lost once in the league thus far and still sit prominently in 7th position in the La Liga standings, so far from crisis point.
I think what swung it for the board was the recent bust up between Luis Fabiano and Alavrez, with the latter not keen on playing the Brazilian scoring sensation and with this, whenever Fabiano has been entrusted with a spot on the field he hasn’t performed due to the lack of confidence and belief shown in him by his manager. So Fabiano in particular could be one individual likely to benefit most from Gregorio Manzano’s appointment, a manager which has already paid the Brazilian hotshot plenty of compliments and has every intention of keeping the player at the club for the foreseeable future.
Funnily enough, Sevilla’s best stuff this season has come away from, away from the pressure of entertaining a now somehow disgruntled home crowd. Their away record in La Liga after two games reads 2-0-0, recording impressive wins of Levante (4-1) and Malaga (2-1). So the Spanish representatives shouldn’t be overawed in Germany, while they are unbeaten in their previous three trips to Germany as well.
Dortmund, though, are in buoyant mood after not only winning their last four Bundesliga fixtures but also edging victory in their opening group game away in Karpaty. In fact, Dortmund have yet to even conceded at home this season, having beaten Wolfsburg and Kaiserslautern 2-0 and 5-0 respectively, but Spanish side Sevilla will undoubtedly pose the biggest forward threat to Dortmund’s defensive record so far.
I’ve managed to watch moments on Dortmund’s recent league encounters and I can honestly say they look a changed side, with the team playing with so much confidence right now that it will take a performance of quality from Sevilla to halt the German side’s momentum. However, the Sevilla team will be eager to impress their new manager and the club always pay whatever European competition they are in the utmost respect, so combined with the fact they desperately need a result in Germany to amend for their drastic result a fortnight ago, I think the visitors are a spot of value.
Matt’s Selections:
Sevilla DrawNoBet – 2.85 Bodog
Sevilla to WIN – 4.00 PaddyPower
Both Teams to Score (YES) – 1.80 888Sport
Luis Fabiano First Goalscorer – 7.50 VCBet
Luis Fabiano to Score Anytime – 3.50 Unibet
