Even if the Christmas break this season will not be particularly long, the players and managers at Borussia Dortmund in particular should be happy to leave the currently tense sporting situation behind for a few days. The reigning runner-up is lagging behind in the league, but now wants to put a conciliatory end to the year at least in the DFB Cup.
This assessment is not really surprising, because in addition to the obvious quality and class difference, the fact that the Lower Saxony could only make one of their last seven games in the 2nd Bundesliga speaks clearly in favor of a Braunschweig vs. Dortmund forecast in favor of the Champions League round of 16.
Apparently we don’t have any major doubts about the progression of the team of the new coach Edin Terzic. When asked about the level of success, we strongly disagree with the betting providers. In view of the quite decent home results of the Braunschweiger Löwen and the recently increased uncertainty at BVB, Borussia’s victory after 90 minutes could be closer than expected.
Braunschweig :
It was actually already clear in the summer that Eintracht Braunschweig is only concerned with staying up in league this season. After 13 completed match days, the Löwen are in the table cellar of the 2nd Bundesliga, but ranked 15th in one of the three relegation or relegation places.
Nevertheless, coach Daniel Meyer’s men would certainly have hoped for more than twelve points collected and already seven defeats (three wins, three draws). The biggest weakness of the promoted team is undoubtedly the defense, which has already conceded 29 goals and thus most of all league competitors.
It was only on the weekend when the 3-0 home draw against SpVgg Greuther Fürth was a bitter slap. For the fourth time this season, the BTSV lost by at least three goals, but for the first time at home. Although the numerous handicap defeats of Eintracht between Braunschweig and Dortmund would justify a tip on a runaway victory for Borussia, we see a realistic chance that the probable victory of BVB will be limited.
The main argument for this is the fact that the Meyer-Elf is much more active at home than abroad. Ten of the total of twelve points and all three wins of the season were recorded in the Eintracht Stadium. In addition, the lions score more goals at home (eight out of 13); Defense also appears far more stable than at a distance (twelve of 29). Because it can also be assumed that the BTSV team is very low, it could even be a real test of patience for the Dortmunders on Tuesday evening.
Bürger, Kessel and Kijewski will definitely be missing in the endeavor to make it back to the second round of the DFB Cup for the first time since 2015/2016. Meanwhile, there is still a question mark behind the commitment of Savior. Probably the most important player, Martin Kobylanski, should return to the starting XI. Interesting fun fact on the side: Only in three of well over 20 DFB Cup games in this millennium did the Braunschweig team lose out by more than two goals.
Dortmund :
Borussia Dortmund has had a half year to forget. Especially in the last few weeks, the black and yellow slipped into a real crisis, which relates not only to the results, but also to the performance shown. In the Bundesliga, for example, only one of the last five matches was won. In the same period, there were three defeats, including the embarrassing 5-1 against Stuttgart or the 2-1 bankruptcy last Friday at Union Berlin.
In the second game under the direction of Favre’s successor Edin Terzic, it was the first bankruptcy. In any case, it seems that BVB’s problems are buried deeper. Numerous top performers are miles away from their top form and the failure of Erling Haaland, which cannot be compensated, is also causing the Westphalians, who have even slipped to fifth place in the classification and long since lost the connection to front runner Bavaria, unexpected difficulties.
Another shortcoming is the weak defense, which recently repeatedly invited the respective opponent to score goals with hair-raising individual mistakes. The defense of standards also increasingly emerged as a building site. With this in mind, before the unequal match between Braunschweig and Dortmund, the odds that both teams will score should at least be kept in mind.
Despite the undisputed quality, the generally sovereign appearances against lower-class teams in the DFB Cup and the (persuaded) new mentality under Coach Terzic, there is simply a lack of self-confidence and the offensive power to assume that the match between Braunschweig and Dortmund will be a tip on a clear success of the favorite will pay off.
By the way: BVB was not able to win any of the last four DFB Cup matches against second division clubs by at least three goals difference. On the contrary, because the reigning runner-up had to go into extra time or into penalty shootouts three times. In addition to Haaland and Schmelzer, the use of Hazard is also questionable. Record youngster Moukoko will celebrate his cup debut at the front.
