As pre-season draws to a close, last season's beaten Champions League finalists Borussia Dortmund will square off with a side entering Europe's top competition for the first time in decades in Aston Villa. Both sides have had a mixed pre-season so far, but will do battle live from Signal Iduna Park on Saturday afternoon to bring their pre-season preparations to a close as the new season rolls around. To help you prepare for what should be an interesting friendly affair, here is our preview and predictions set for this pre-season curtain caller.
Led by former Dortmund midfielder pairing Nuri Sahin and Sven Bender, Borussia Dortmund have had a mixed bag in their pre-season outings. A disappointing 1-1 draw with Erzegebirge Aue was compounded with a 4-0 thrashing at the mercy of Thai club BG Pathum United.
Sahin, who is a relative rookie at managerial level, has been handed a tough job. Leading a side who missed out barely on huge silverware in each of their last two seasons is one thing, but the Turkish former midfielder must also rebuild this Dortmund side following the departures of Mats Hummels, Marco Reus, Jadon Sancho and, now a West Ham man, Niclas Fullkrug.
They did save some pre-season face with a win over Japanese side Cerezo Osaka, with two goals from Karim Adeyemi and another from Jamie Bynoe-Gittens racing the Yellow Wall into a 3-0 lead, but responses from Masaya Shibayama and Reiya Sakata still displayed some worrying cracks. Pre-season prep may not have got off to the intended start, but a big win over Aston Villa would show pleasing early progress for Sahin.
Aston Villa's pre-season efforts have also been a mixed bag of success, boasting three wins and three losses exactly. 3-0 victories apiece against Walsall and Spartak Trnava got the Villains off to a fine start, but their tour of the USA wasn't smooth sailing, losing all three of their fixtures against Columbus Crew, RB Leipzig and Club America, going down 4-1, 2-0 and 1-0 across the trio of matches.
Upon their return to England, however, the side would recover with an impressive 3-2 win over Basque side Althletic Club, with youngsters Cameron Archer, Jadon Philogene and Jacob Ramsey all finding the net to recover pre-season form for Unai Emery's side.
They now make their way back onto the plane, bound for Dortmund. Both teams will likely treat the game as a competitive affair, looking to build credentials as well as sharpness as their early preparations come to a stop.
Unai Emery has used every corner of his Aston Villa squad throughout pre-season, but he may opt for his strongest available side for Saturday's clash in Germany. Emi Martinez, Ezri Konsa and Ollie Watkins all played a part in international finals last month, and having now returned from an extended break, they should be available to play a part.
Recently signing from Everton, Amadou Onana will likely join fellow new faces Samuel Iling-Junior, Ross Barkley, Enzo Barrenechea and ex-Dortmund loanee Ian Maatsen in the Villains' squad, but the speculation surrounding the future of young forward Jhon Duran may cast his availability into doubt, whereas Boubacar Kamara and Tyrone Mings are still recovering from injuries.
With new signing Serhou Guirassy has been ruled out of action until next month, Dortmund will likely turn towards Sebastien Haller to replace West Ham-bound Niclas Fullkrug up front, while Jamie Bynoe-Gittens may find himself growing in prominence following the loan end of his fellow Englishman Jadon Sancho.
American midfielder Gio Reyna is back in contention following his disappointing loan to Nottingham Forest, and new from-Brighton arrival Pascal Gross will add experience to Dortmund's spine. Waldemar Anton and Yan Couto may also hope to feature, following their arrivals in Dortmund from Stuttgart and Manchester City respectively.
Karim Adeyemi has been linked with Aston Villa amidst Chelsea and Juventus interest
Dortmund vs Aston Villa Key Odds
Match result
- Dortmund - 17/20
- Draw - 5/2
- Villa - 11/4
Both teams to score
- Yes - 4/9
- No - 13/8
Total match goals
- 2+ - 4/9
- 3+ - 11/10
- 4+ - 5/2
Half with most goals
- 1st - 21/10
- Tie - 3/1
- 2nd - 10/11
Dortmund did well to recover from their pre-season disappointments with a win over Cerezo Ozaka, but they have not faced a team as to the quality that Aston Villa possess.
Although, home form may count for plenty, and Villa have hardly knocked off any world beaters in pre-season as of yet, but have faced (and beaten) stronger opposition in Athletic Club.
With that, we can see Unai Emery making the strong end to pre-season.
Both sides possess a great degree of attacking quality heading into this game, and whilst we can see the visitors leaving Germany with a win under their belts, we also expect Dortmund to bite back with at least one effort of their own.
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