German Bundesliga - Fortuna Dusseldorf vs. Borussia Dortmund - Preview & Prediction

Having spent the last 10 Matchdays sitting in the relegation play-off spot, 16th-placed Fortuna Dusseldorf will try to renew their survival hopes while hosting 2nd-placed Borussia Dortmund, who have dropped just one of their past nine decisions. Kick-off - at 9:30 PM ET on Saturday, June 13.

Dusseldorf Draw Versus Hoffenheim

Fortuna Dusseldorf’s unbeaten home run extended to four domestic games (W1 D3) after the team was held to a 2-2 draw by Hoffenheim at Merkur Spiel-Arena on Saturday. The Rhineland club opened the scoring just five minutes into the game, as Rouwen Hennings headed home Kevin Stoger’s cross before the visitors found themselves a man down four minutes later, only to take a 2-1 lead subsequently, with Hennings tying the game at 2-2 at the end of the second half from the penalty spot. Fortuna Dusseldorf have drawn seven of their past 11 matches (W2 D7 L2), still occupying the 16th place - the relegation play-off spot - in the Bundesliga (W6 D10 L14), sitting three points below outright safety.

Rouwen Hennings leads Die Flingeraner with 14 strikes, having scored three times in his past two outings following a goalless streak of 10 Bundesliga games. Goalie Florian Kastenmeier, meanwhile, sits 20th in the league in saves, having turned away 43 shots in 13 starts. He has two clean sheets and allows a goal every 49 minutes on average. Fortuna Dusseldorf is 2nd from the bottom in most goals netted this season (33), 12th in most shots delivered per game (12.5), 15th in ball possession (46.5%), and 12th in passing accuracy (77.4%).

Dortmund Edge Out Hertha Berlin

Borussia Dortmund banked their second straight win after following up the 6-1 road thrashing of Paderborn on May 31 with a 1-0 home victory against Hertha Berlin at Signal Iduna Park on Saturday. BVB led in ball possession (64%) and outshot the visitors 13-4, with top-scorer Jadon Sancho leading the team with three attempts. Still, only a single marker proved crucial in the meeting, with Emre Can burying his second snipe of the season in the 58th minute of the game. With a W19 D6 L5 record, the Black-and-Yellows sit 2nd in the league, chasing 1st-placed Bayern Munich by seven points, four points above 3rd-placed RB Leipzig.

Having collected 17 goals and 16 assists this year in the Bundesliga, English winger Sancho leads BVB in scoring. Goalie Roman Burki, meanwhile, sits 19th in most saves, having stopped 49 shots thus far this year. He has 11 clean sheets in 27 Bundesliga appearances in 2019-20 and concedes a goal every 71 minutes of play. Borussia Dortmund have scored the 2nd highest number of goals this season (81), while posting the 7th highest quantity of shots per game (13.5). The team is 3rd in ball possession (58.4%) and 2nd in passing accuracy (86.7%).

Prediction
Borussia Dortmund have beaten Fortuna Dusseldorf in three of their last five Bundesliga encounters (W3 D1 L1) and are clear favorites to bank another victory in this one. The odds of -265 for a BVB win here, though, are hardly tempting. So, do consider backing Die Flingeraner not to lose by more than one goal. Fortuna Dusseldorf have already drawn seven of their last 11 outings (W2 D7 L2), losing by more than one snipe in just three of their past 14 Bundesliga contests. Borussia Dortmund, meanwhile, has failed to post a victory by two goals or more on four of the past seven occasions.

Best bet:

Fortuna Dusseldorf (Handicap +1.5) (-125)