SV Darmstadt 98 – Borussia Dortmund
The Bundesliga is finally back and now the 17th matchday is on the schedule. After five games in the conference, this week’s top game takes us to the Böllenfalltor early on Saturday evening. The Lilies will be looking to spring a surprise against BVB to kick off the year. You can find out whether the Hessians will succeed in doing so in our Darmstadt – Dortmund betting tip.
However, a win on Saturday would also be vital for Darmstadt. The Lilies have just two wins this season and have not won in nine games. The SVD are therefore only in last place in the table.
But BVB are also currently stuck in a negative rut. Borussia have not won any of their last six competitive matches and only managed two disappointing draws against Augsburg and Mainz just before the winter break. They will now look to finally reverse the trend against Darmstadt
Darmstadt – Dortmund info
- Date & Time: 13.01.2024, 18:30 hrs.
- Playing venue: Merck Stadium at Böllenfalltor, Darmstadt
- Competition: Bundesliga, 17th matchday
- TV broadcast: Sky
Darmstadt Form & Balance Check
The Lilies were somewhat surprisingly promoted to the Bundesliga in the previous season. This season, not surprisingly, coach Thorsten Lieberknecht’s team’s only goal is to avoid relegation to Bundesliga 2. And at the start of the season, it looked as if it would be possible to avoid relegation.
After seven games, SVD had seven points to their name and found themselves in eleventh place. However, in the following nine games, the Hessians only picked up three more points, which pushed the Lilies to the bottom of the table. Right before the winter break, however, there was at least an encouraging 3-3 draw against TSG Hoffenheim
Skarke plays strongly
Tim Skarke was born in Heidenheim an der Brenz and made his first breakthrough into professional soccer at 1. FC Heidenheim. Between 2019 and 2022, the attacking player developed into an absolute regular at SV Darmstadt. After spells at Union Berlin and Schalke 04, the 27-year-old returned to the Lilies in the summer.
And this move has paid off for both parties so far. Skarke has made 14 Bundesliga appearances for SVD so far, scoring six goals and providing two assists. The former U21 international was particularly impressive in the last match before the winter break, scoring twice in the clash against Hoffenheim
Darmstadt facts & analysis
- SV Darmstadt 98 have not won in 10 games.
- With 4 red cards, SV Darmstadt 98 top the Bundesliga’s list of offenders.
- SV Darmstadt 98 have conceded a goal in each of their last 6 games.
Dortmund Form & Balance Check
BVB’s first half of the season so far has been similar to the previous season. At the turn of the year, Borussia were in 6th place in the table and had 25 points after 15 games. This season, there was one more game before the New Year. However, Borussia still only has 27 points and remains in 5th place.
It is unlikely that Borussia will be able to challenge for the championship this season. A year ago, league leaders Bayern were only nine points away. In contrast, Leverkusen are currently 15 points ahead. In fact, coach Edin Terzic’s team have taken just three points from their last four games
Familiar faces as co-coaches
After the disappointing 1:1 draw against Mainz 05, there were big question marks surrounding coach Edin Terzic. In the end, however, the Croatian was allowed to stay on as Borussia coach. However, there were still a few additions to the coaching staff in the winter. Former assistant coach Armin Reutershahn resigned at his own request and was replaced twice.
On the one hand, Sven Bender was brought in as the new assistant, who played for Dortmund for eight years and was previously assistant coach of the U17 national team. BVB also secured the services of Nuri Sahin. The German-Turkish player was previously coach and sporting director at Antalyaspor in the Süper Lig and is now expected to improve Borussia’s build-up play in particular
Dortmund facts & analysis
- Borussia Dortmund have not won in 6 games.
- Borussia Dortmund have conceded a goal in each of their last 11 matches.
- Borussia Dortmund have scored in each of their last 6 games.
Predicted line-up – last update on January 11, 2024
We expect the Lilies to play a 3-4-1-2 again, but Darmstadt will still have to make do without playmaker Marvin Mehlem, who is still out injured for some time. Braydon Manu and Christoph Zimmermann will also be out injured.
We are again assuming a 4-2-3-1 for Dortmund. The visitors will be without Sébastien Haller and Ramy Bensebaini, who are at the Africa Cup. Schlotterbeck and Meunier have asserted themselves in the full-back positions during preparations. New signings Sancho and Maatsen will still be in the starting eleven
Darmstadt – Dortmund head-to-head comparison & stats
There have been nine matches between the two teams. BVB have been victorious five times and Darmstadt have won two. In the last clash between the two teams on 11/02/2017, SVD also won 2:1.
- Borussia Dortmund’s performance of the last 5 matches is better than SV Darmstadt 98’s.
- Borussia Dortmund have won just 1 of their last 4 matches against SV Darmstadt 98 in all competitions.
- Of the last matches SV Darmstadt 98 won 1, Borussia Dortmund won 2 and 1 matches ended in a draw.
- On average SV Darmstadt 98 scores 1 goals against Borussia Dortmund and Borussia Dortmund scores 2.75 goals against SV Darmstadt 98.
- SV Darmstadt 98 scores an average of 1.26 goals when playing at home and Borussia Dortmund scores an average of 2.2 goals when playing away (on average).
