Haaland's Dortmund return will be a goalscoring on
In arguably the clash of the weekend in European football, former upstarts and now contemporary title challengers RB Leipzig take on a Borussia Dortmund outfit boosted by the return of deadly Norwegian striker Erling Haaland for their visit to the Red Bull Arena in the Bundesliga in the early Saturday evening kick-off. Interim manager Edin Terzić has been given the gig until the end of 2020/2021, and will be hoping to build on the dispatching of Wolfsburg by bringing at least a draw back home. Read our preview here:
His name is Yussuf Poulsen
Highly sought-after head coach Julian Nagelsmann will have to make do without nearly a full starting XI for the big clash on Saturday, but will still have a squad available that would be the envy of every other club in the division besides Bayern and his opponents at the weekend. The 33 year-old will be looking to wing-backs Angeliño and Tyler Adams to dominate the wide spaces on the flanks, and will be especially hopeful that the latter can at least hold on his own against the roving form of Raphaël Guerreiro; the Portuguese international likes to work on the overlap and join in BVB's attacks whenever the opportunity arises, so there might be some space to exploit on the break. Further upfield, rangy forward Yussuf Poulsen will be chomping at the bit to improve on his tally of four for the campaign, which nevertheless makes him joint top scorer with the Spanish Manchester City loanee.
"I am Sancho!"
Jadon Sancho's explosive ability has never been in doubt, but it's more than reasonable to suggest he didn't have the best time under previous head coach Lucien Favre, and hadn't even scored in 2020/2021 in the top tier before the previous match. With Belgian right-back Thomas Meunier now fit enough for selection, Die Schwarzgelben are slowly getting back to their usual starting lineup. The English forward will be tasked with using his trickery to penetrate the hosts' back three, and to shift them around horizontally. Dayot Upamecano has not been at his most dominant this term, and the first strike Sancho mustered against Wolfsburg should be a springboard to further ones, continuing on Saturday.
Edin up the table
There are likely to be further setbacks for Terzić as he begins to mould the side in his image (at least for the remaining fixtures). However, these should be fewer and further between, and he can approach the clash with Die Roten Bullen on a much more even keel than anyone in the visiting dugout would've envisaged as recently as a few weeks ago. Naturally, any side with the ridiculous finishing ability of Haaland has a chance in every single game, and there ought to be goals for both sides despite the hosts' enviable conceded record to date. Betfair are offering odds of 1.88 for four or more strikes in the game.
