Borussia Dortmund meet Newcastle United at Signal Iduna Park in Group F of 2023-24 UEFA Champions League.
Locked on four points apiece after three matches, victory will see Dortmund stay second or drop to third behind Newcastle if lose.
Either team though will go top with a win for at least a few hours unless PSG lose away at AC Milan in the late kick-off, although Newcastle would stay top if they claim all three points and PSG then draw in Milan.
Team News
Emre Can is ruled out for Borussia Dortmund after he suffered a hip injury during their win at Newcastle a fortnight ago.
Thomas Meunier and Antonios Papadopoulos are ineligble after they were left out of Borussia Dortmund’s Champions League squad.
Julien Duranville (thigh) and Mateu Morey (knee) are sidelined.
Newcastle will be without defender, Dan Burn after he suffered a back injury during their Premier League win over Arsenal.
Matt Targett (hamstring), Sven Botman (knee), Elliott Anderson (back), Jacob Murphy (shoulder), Lewis Miley (illness), Sandro Tonali (suspension), Harvey Barnes (foot), Javier Manquillo and Alexander Isak (both groin) remain absent.
When is Kick-Off?
Borussia Dortmund face Newcastle at Signal Iduna Park in a 6:45pm CET kick-off (5:45pm UK Time), live on TNT Sport 1 in the UK.
Stat Attack
- Borussia Dortmund won their only previous meeting against Newcastle by a 1-0 result in October 2023.
- Newcastle are playing away to Dortmund for the first time in all UEFA competitions.
- Newcastle are unbeaten in three previous away matches to German opposition in all UEFA competitions (W2, D1).
- Dortmund have scored just one goal in Group F this season (W1, D1, L1).
- Bruno Guimaraes has been booked in each of Newcastle’s last two matches in Group F.
Prediction
After last weekend’s Bundesliga mauling at home to Bayern Munich with an awful start and poor defending, Borussia Dortmund now must quickly refocus and tighten up at the back because they could be in for another rough test if Newcastle start quickly like Bayern did.
Eddie Howe though will surely hope that his Magpies can play with the same energy and intensity which saw them impress at home, although their end product will need to be sharper if want to beat Gregor Kobel who stubbornly denied them on Tyneside.
Their scrappy controversial winner against Arsenal therefore might be the ideal tonic because they defended incredibly well against tough pressure, yet crucially took one of their chances in a physical encounter but accuracy will be vital here.
Prediction: Borussia Dortmund 1-1 Newcastle United
Result: Borussia Dortmund 2-0 Newcastle United
Leave a Reply