Borussia Dortmund vs Sporting CP predictions: Guirassy can add to his European tally
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- Serhou Guirassy has scored 10 goals in nine Champions League games
- Sporting CP have kept just one away clean sheet in Europe
- Recommended bet: Serhou Guirassy anytime goalscorer
Borussia Dortmund look set for the last 16 of the Champions League after last week's convincing 3-0 first-leg win over Sporting CP.
The two sides meet again on Wednesday and the are hosts expected to progress, with this tournament providing some respite after another tough weekend in which they lost 2-0 at second-bottom Bochum to stay in 11th in the table.
Sporting remain top of the Primeira Liga despite only drawing 2-2 at home with Arouca and might look to rest some of their stars.
The opposite might be true for Dortmund following their poor showing at Bochum and their talismanic striker looks the player to follow.
Team news
Felix Nmecha has been ruled out for Borussia Dortmund with a knee injury, while Ramy Bensebaini and Filippo Mane are doubts with muscular issues.
Geny Catamo (ankle), Daniel Braganca (knee), Hidemasa Morita (calf), Nuno Santos (knee) and Jerry St. Juste (leg) are unavailable for the visitors, while Pedro Goncalves may be rested due to a knock.
Three Der BVB players are a yellow card away from suspension. They are Maximilian Beier, Yan Couto and Julian Ryerson, while Sporting's Maximiliano Araujo, Zeno Debast and Geovany Quenda are in the same situation.
The stats
Dortmund's win in Lisbon marked the 12th time they have won the opening leg of a major European knockout tie and they have progressed on 11 occasions.
Both previous meetings between these two sides played in Germany have ended in 1-0 home wins.
Sporting CP have lost 12 of their 14 away matches against Bundesliga outfits.
Serhou Guirassy has registered 13 goal involvements in this season's Champions League (10 goals, three assists) — one more goal will see him join Sebastien Haller, who managed 11 in 2021-22 as the African player to score the most goals in a season.
Prediction
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Borussia Dortmund's 3-0 advantage means their progress to the last 16 to face either Aston Villa or Lille feels like a formality.
However, their poor display at Bochum means Niko Kovac is unlikely to rotate as he aims to work out his best team after losing two out of his first three matches since being appointed at the start of the month.
That means Kovac will likely start the impressive Guirassy, who has been his team's talisman since signing from Stuttgart in the summer.
The Guinea striker will need to continue his form if Der BVB are to get anywhere near repeating last season's heroics of reaching the Champions League final.
Guirassy may also be pushing Kovac to stick with him so that he can add to his tournament-leading tally and he looks real value to do so against Rui Borges' visitors, who have conceded in three of their four away games in Europe.
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