Tottenham – Dortmund

In London, the opponents will score at least three goals between them.

Last season, London’s Tottenham became the Europa League champion, winning the continent’s second-most prestigious club tournament for the second time in its history. Despite such a glorious achievement, Spurs manager Ange Postecoglou was dismissed. The reason was the capital team’s seventeenth place in the Premier League, which became the worst result in decades. It might have seemed that the summer-appointed Thomas Frank landed in the most favorable possible situation. He inherited a squad of players valued at around 850-900 million euros, which, as expected, could not afford to perform worse than last season. However the spark of the Spurs under their new coach lasted only a couple of months, and the team’s form began to slip. Now the Spurs sit fourteenth in the Premier League table, with a risk of slipping even lower. Borussia Dortmund faced similar problems in the first half of last season, but the club’s management made timely and precise personnel decisions. After the appointment of Niko Kovac’s coaching staff, the German club gained excellent form and seemed to have solved the seemingly impossible task of finishing in the Champions League places. Dortmund is now a full-fledged second force in the Bundesliga. Bookmakers have not determined a favorite for the upcoming match, offering a slight tilt of the odds in favor of the home team. Despite failures in the national championship, Tottenham’s results in the Champions League cannot be called bad. Ahead of the next round of the group stage, Spurs have three wins in six matches, sitting eleventh in the standings. This allows Frank’s team not to worry about reaching the playoff preliminary round and to strive for the top eight clubs to obtain a direct ticket to the Round of 16. Borussia Dortmund are in an absolutely identical position, occupying adjacent spots in the table ahead of their upcoming opponent. That is, the teams, before their head-to-head meeting, do not risk anything. Given that Tottenham’s average goals per game in the Champions League is a little over two, and Dortmund’s a little over three, it is quite logical to expect in London an open game, at least with three goals.