Champions League: Can Potter’s Chelsea stand up to the Yellow Wall? 

Borussia Dortmund vs Chelsea

The Champions League is back folks; and it returns with a bang, with a Wednesday night looming that Chelsea fans are unlikely to forget in a while when they visit Bundesliga high-flyers Borussia Dortmund.  

The Yellow Wall will be at its magnificent best, 25,000 fans producing an atmosphere like no other, and Graham Potter’s Blues can expect a torrent of pressure on the pitch too from Borussia’s exciting young team. While Chelsea have been stuck in mid-table in the Premier League, currently ninth, Edin Terzic has guided BVB to third place in the Bundesliga table and just three points behind leaders Bayern Munich.         

The latest Champions League 2023 betting odds price Chelsea’s star studded side at 1.55 to navigate this tie with Dortmund at 2.44, an offer which will be good enough to interest many of the German side’s fans after watching their boys rip up the Bundesliga in recent weeks.   

Talking Points

Borussia on the rampage 

Five successive wins in the league, scoring 15 goals along the way has rocketed Die Schwarzgelben up from mid table to a title challenging position. After beating Bayer Leverkusen 2-0 and spanking top four hopefuls Freiburg 5-1, they kept the run going away to Werder Bremen on Saturday. Jamie Brynoe-Gittens opened the scoring with a screamer into the top left corner before Julian Brandt added a last second, latching onto a through ball from Raphael Guerreiro and slotting coolly home.  

Bynoe-Gittens is the latest player to come off the Dortmund academy conveyor belt and, at 18 years of age, he’s a superb prospect for both BVB and England. And we might see more of Borussia’s young guns on Wednesday, led by England’s Jude Bellingham who already has four goals in the competition and is still, remarkably, only 19. Then there is 21 year old Karim Adeyemi, the fastest player in the Bundesliga registering a blistering 36.65 kph, and he scored against Freiburg alongside Gio Reyna, 19 years of age and back to his best after a lengthy injury.

And the return of striker Sebastian Haller has been a huge boost for both the player and the club after he returned from cancer treatment to lead the line.

There is a lot for Dortmund fans to be excited about… 

James return is so good for Chelsea

And there is plenty for Chelsea fans to look forward to, but they may have to be patient, although they did see a glimpse of what is to come as new recruits, Joao Felix and Enzo Fernandez were both superb in the first half of Chelsea’s match with West Ham.   

The Blues started strongly against the Hammers and when the two new boys combined Potter’s side took a deserved early lead. Fernandez floated over a delightful ball which Felix met and fired home for his first goal in the Premier League, the perfect way to return from suspension. Emerson equalised for West Ham but Chelsea should have won all three points when a shot from Conor Gallagher was blocked by Tomas Soucek’s hand in the penalty area and, predictably, the VAR officials didn’t see a ‘clear and obvious error’! 

Potter wasn’t impressed and it was a harsh way to lose two points but, as well as his new players shining, there was a big performance from the returned Reece James. Chelsea have had a terrible time with injuries and the England wingback is the player they have missed the most.

This could be a turning point for the Blues. 

History

Both teams were previously European champions, Dortmund in 1997 and Chelsea in 2012, and then again in 2021 when a Kai Havertz goal was enough to beat Manchester City.

This is the first time these two teams have met but, in terms of recent form the hosts have the edge. Chelsea are unbeaten in four (drawing the last three), but have not won away on their last eight away trips, while BVB are unbeaten in ten at home.  

Betting Tip

With some exciting young players on both sides we can expect to see plenty of Champions League 2023 highlights in this fixture and there will be a tough edge to the match too, with both sides determined to stay in the competition.  

Chelsea are at SBOTOP odds of 17.00 to win the tournament and Die Schwarz Gelben at 55.00, neither are front runners but they could both be a decent dark horse for a final place with the Blues priced at 7.00 and BVB at 21.00.

Neither Borussia nor Chelsea would be a quarter final pushover whoever they face, but in this Round of 16 clash first leg, I’m predicting a particularly hard test for the Premier League side.  

 

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