Borussia Dortmund vs Holstein Kiel
With the Bundesliga taking the weekend off, the DFB-Pokal will take centre stage with two semi-final ties: Werder Bremen vs RB Leipzig and Borussia Dortmund vs Holstein Kiel.
Dortmund have a great opportunity to return to the DFB-Pokal final for the first time in four years as they take on the Bundesliga II side Holstein Kiel.
The Storks have been this season’s amazing Cinderella story as they shockingly knocked out German champions Bayern Munichen route to their first-ever cup semi-final.
However, the DFB-Pokal 2021 odds of them reaching the final will be significantly long as they face a Dortmund side that’s finally rediscovered its best form over the last few weeks.
Talking Points
BVB back to their best
Borussia Dortmund are finally getting back to their best. They’ve reeled off four consecutive league wins to close the gap on fourth-placed Eintracht Frankfurt to a single point.
BVB’s most impressive win by far was their most recent one: a 2-0 away victory at third-placed Wolfsburg. They won despite going down to 10 men after Jude Bellingham was sent off with half an hour to go.
ErlingHaaland scored a brace as he continues to put his recent goal drought further behind him. After going nearly a month without putting the ball in the back of the net, the young Norwegian has now scored four goals in his last three matches.
The other piece of good news for Dortmund is that Jadon Sancho is returning to full fitness. The young Englishman returned from his injury layoff against Union Berlin and played an hour against Wolfsburg before coming off.
Sancho has provided a good number of Dortmund’s DFB-Pokal 2021 highlights as he’s scored in all four of BVB’s games in this year’s competition.That includes the decisive goal in their 1-0 quarter-final win against Borussia Monchengladbach.
With Haaland back in form and Sancho back in the lineup along with captain Marco Reus, Dortmund should fancy their chances of keeping up their impressive scoring streak at home.
Borussia Dortmund’s Erling Haaland warms up before the Bundesliga match against Union Berlin
BVB have scored in every home game this season; they last failed to score at Signal Iduna Park in the final game of last season, where they were thrashed 4-0 by Hoffenheim.
Holstein Kiel making history
Holstein Kiel have had an amazing journey this season’s DFB-Pokal. The Bundesliga II side are set to play their first-ever cup semi-final against the mighty Borussia Dortmund.
The Storks made massive DFB-Pokal 2021 news as they knocked out reigning German champions Bayern Munich in the second round. Hauke Wahl sent the match to extra time with his 90th-minute equaliser, and they went on to win 6-5 on penalties.
Holstein Kiel were then on the other end of a late equaliser in the next round against Darmstadt, but once again they prevailed on penalties.But in the quarter-finals, they had no problems getting past fellow cup fairy-tale story RW Essen, 3-0.
Janni Serra has been the Storks’ star man during this incredible cup run. The 23-year-old forward has scored three goals in their four cup games and also has nine goals in 25 appearances in Bundesliga II this season.Serra will enter the semi-final tie against Dortmund in fine form with two goals in his last two games.
Holstein Kiel are currently in fourth place in Bundesliga II, just one point behind Hamburg for the qualifying play-off spot with two games still in hand.
Much of the Storks’ success has been due to their defence. They have conceded just 27 goals this season, by far the best defensive record in the league. However, they have failed to keep a clean sheet in their last five league matches.
History
Aside from Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund have been the most successful side in the DFB-Pokal in recent years. They have won the competitions four times in total, with two coming within the last decade (2012 and 2017).
They also made the final three other times (2014, 2015, and 2016) but lost to Bayern twice and to Wolfsburg.
Dortmund and Holstein Kiel actually met in the DFB-Pokal during Dortmund’s title run in 2012. Led by Robert Lewandowski, BVB crushed the Storks 4-0 in the quarter-finals.
Betting Tip
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Borussia Dortmund vs Holstein Kiel | Over 3.00 @ 1.71 |
| May 02, 02:30 (GMT+8) |
Unsurprisingly, SBOTOP odds are overwhelmingly in Dortmund’s favour as they are priced at 1.20 to win. Meanwhile, Holstein Kiel are huge 10.50 underdogs and a draw is 6.60.
As impressive as Holstein Kiel’s cup run has been, it’s hard to see them producing another giant-killing performance against Dortmund. BVB have too many weapons with Haaland, Sancho, and Reus for the Storks to handle.
There should be a good number of goals in this game with the Dortmund trio back together and the BVB backline always liable to give up a goal or two.So expect a high-scoring semi-final, with Dortmund ultimately moving on to the final.
A SHORT EXPLANATION ON HOW OUR ( ) BETS ARE WORTH: |
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 = €20 (Highly confident) |
= €10 (CONFIDENT) |
= €5 (SOMEWHAT CONFIDENT) |
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Disclaimer: Odds are correct at time of publish.
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The post DFB-Pokal: Dortmund Keen to End Giant-killers’ Fairytale Cup Run appeared first on SBOTOP.
