Borussia Dortmund vs Celtic prediction: Bhoys unlikely to enjoy German excursion

Celtic have had an excellent start to the season with nine wins from nine games in all competitions, but know that Tuesday’s game against Borussia Dortmund will be the biggest challenge they have faced so far (8pm, TNT Sports 2 and Discovery+).

The Bhoys currently sit top of the SPL table, with a maximum 18 points, and are second in the Champions League table, behind Bayern Munich on goal difference after their impressive 5-1 win over Slovan Bratislava at Celtic Park.

Tuesday’s opponents also won their opening game, beating Club Brugge 3-0 in Belgium, but their league form has been a little more mixed.

They currently sit fifth in the Bundesliga, with 10 points from their opening five games, recently losing 5-1 at Stuttgart before having to come from 2-0 down at home to Bochum in a 4-2 victory in their last outing.

This will be the fourth time the two sides have met, and the German side leads the head-to-head 3-1 with Celtic’s only win coming in the first-ever meeting back in 1987.

Brendan Rodgers’ side have never won a Champions League match against German opponents in eight attempts, and they have lost their last four.

So, can they do better against Dortmund? Betting sites have their doubts and make Dortmund no bigger than 1/2 to pick up their second European win of the season. Celtic are as big as 11/2 to record their first-ever win on German soil.

Whether they can get a result or not, Celtic should fancy themselves to score, after all the German side have conceded seven goals in their last two matches, including being breached twice by a struggling Bochum side last time out. And Celtic have found goals easy to come by so far with 33 across all competitions so confidence will be high, especially when 12 different players have been on the scoresheet.

Dortmund have scored 10 goals in just three home games so far, and we are thinking along the same lines as football betting sites when it comes to expecting goals, with both teams to score no bigger than 8/13.

Getting on the scoresheet may not save the Hoops from defeat though and we link the idea of pairing a Dortmund win and both teams to score, which pays 17/10 on a couple of betting apps, including William Hill.

BVB are on an 11-game unbeaten streak at home in the Uefa Champions League, winning seven and drawing four, turning over Paris Saint-Germain and Atletico Madrid at Signal Iduna Park last season.

Celtic, on the other hand, have lost each of their last five away matches in the competition and failed to win any of their last eight, drawing one and losing seven.

The last time the Bhoys won their first away match of a Champions League campaign was back in September 2017 – beating RSC Anderlecht 3-0 in what was their only win of the 2017/18 campaign.

Borussia Dortmund v Celtic prediction 1: Borussia Dortmund to win & both teams to score - 17/10 William Hill

If Dortmund are to win, you wouldn’t put it past the exciting winger Jamie Gittens to be on target, after all, he has already scored four goals this season and assisted one more.

The 20-year-old is following in the footsteps of Jadon Sancho and Jude Bellingham as the latest young English talent to have shone for Dortmund and bagged a 22-minute brace from the bench in BVB’s 3-0 win over Club Brugge on matchday one in the Champions League.

Gittens has started Dortmund’s last two Bundesliga games since that cameo and while head coach Nuri Sahin has other options, the German press expect Gittens to retain his place in the side.

The in-form Serhou Guirassy sits on top of the goalscorer markets on established and new betting sites alike having scored four in his last three games, but he’s just 11/10 to net against Celtic and Gittens, who rarely fails to have at least one shot on goal when on the field, may prove better value.

Borussia Dortmund vs Celtic prediction 2: Jamie Gittens to score at any time - 5/2 BoyleSports

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