Free pick and prediction for Darmstadt-Dortmund

The Wasps are heading into 2024 with renewed strength, and an easier opponent than Darmstadt could hardly be faced.

On Friday, the German top flight also restarted, namely with a relatively smooth victory over Bayern. The defending champion is still only second, while BVB is fifth, and its lag is no less than 15 units behind the leader Leverkusen. The big disadvantage was brought together in December by the Wasps, who did not win any of the four championships played in the last month of the year and only took three of the 12 points that could be obtained. Of course, the Haller an co. would start the year with a confidence-boosting success, and for that they got an ideal opponent.

Team news

Darmstadt is in last place in the table, and can also “boast” itself with the weakest defense in the league. The preparation didn’t go according to plan either, as the lower league Holstein Kiel also beaten them at home, and this means that the team is without a win in ten Bundesliga games, taking everything into account. The situation is complicated by several important omissions, the three-goal midfielder Marvin Mehlem is out for months, but neither Hornby nor Seydel can be used.

Dortmund are also missing important players, Sébastien Haller will represent Ivory Coast, while Ramy Bensebaini will represent Algeria at the Africa Cup. Along with them, Ryerson, Nmecha and Duranville are injured, but Adeyemi is not 100 percent, and Wolf is struggling with an illness. It is great news, however, that Jadon Sancho was brought back, albeit on loan, and Chelsea’s young left back, Ian Maatsen, also arrived. The two new signings are not expected to be discussed on Saturday, but the blood refresh will certainly be good for the black and yellows.

Did you know? Sancho played 137 games for Dortmund, scoring 50 goals and 64 assists!

BVB has already played two preparatory matches this year, first with AZ Alkmaar (2-2) and then with Standard Liege (3-3). In the latter, they managed to come back from a deficit twice, which can give some psychological advantage, although the winless streak, which has been going on for eight games, was not broken. Of course, a draw against the French giant PSG or the leader Leverkusen is a more than acceptable result.

What is worth betting on?

All in all, we can expect a fight between two teams in bad shape, but we believe that the difference in skills should come out on Saturday. We’ve only seen what he’s really capable of from BVB a few times, but the Rose crew won’t even need their best against Darmstadt, who have only won twice out of 16 league games. The Lillies conceded an average of 2.5 goals per game, so we also put the Dortmund goal over 1.5 next to the “V”.

✅ Tip #1: Dortmund to win + Dortmund goals over 1.5 @1.67

Deadline: January 12, 6:30 p.m