How will Erling Haaland be received by the fans when he returns to Borussia Dortmund? How will his ex-teammates interact with him? It should be interesting to see how the Norwegian scoring machine performs during his first time back at Signal Iduna Park, in the opposing shirt.
He’ll start, more certainly, and the same can be said for Ilkay Gundogan. We think Jack Grealish will be dropped though. Here’s the rest of our picks for Pep Guardiola’s first team.
Manchester City at Borussia Dortmund FYIs
Kick: Tues. Oct 25, 8pm, Signal Iduna Park
Competition: UCL Group E, Matchday 5 of 6
After Extra Time Pod: Spotify Apple Podcasts
Team News for both sides: go here
Google Result Probability: Man City 60% Borussia Dortmund 19% Draw 21%
UCL Group Standings: Man City: 1st, 10 pts Borussia Dortmund 2nd, 7 pts
And a special bonus for this preview article, we decided to predict the Dortmund first team too.
Starting XI Predictions
Manchester City
Ederson; Stones, Dias, Ake, Cancelo; Rodri, Gundogan; Mahrez, De Bruyne, Foden; Haaland
Borussia Dortmund
Kobel; Wolf, Sule, Hummels, Guerreiro; Can, Bellingham; Adeyemi, Hazard, Malen; Moukoko
Prediction: Man City 2, Borussia Dortmund 1
Look for the Nordic Meat Shield to bag a brace in his homecoming game
Paul M. Banks is the owner/manager of The Sports Bank and author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” as well as “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He has regularly appeared in WGN, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune, and he co-hosts the After Extra Time podcast, part of Edge of the Crowd Network. Follow him and the website on Twitter and Instagram.