Newcastle United vs Borussia Dortmund Preview

Newcastle will look to continue their fairytale run in the Champions League this Wednesday when they welcome Borussia Dortmund to St. James’ Park.

The Magpies’ return to European action has been successful so far, with their unbeaten start seeing them sit top of their group. Their group–Group F–was tagged as the ‘group of death’ because of the quality of the teams involved.

But Eddie Howe’s side have made a solid start so far, taking a point at the San Siro against AC Milan (goalless draw) before a mesmerising 4-1 home win over Paris Saint-Germain in their last UCL outing.

That win against PSG forms part of a run of eight games without defeat in all competitions (W6, D2). The Magpies kept six clean sheets and scored 2+ goals in five of those games.

Therefore, they go into this game full of confidence and with the chance to extend their remarkable home form in competitions, with the hosts now unbeaten in 15 home competition matches (W10, D5).

Meanwhile, Borussia Dortmund are also a team in good form having not tasted defeat in over a month (W4, D1). Their 1-0 win over Werder Bremen on Friday kept them among the top teams in the Bundesliga.

However, by contrast, they sit at the bottom of Group F having not yet won in the UCL this term (D1, L1), with an opening-day loss to PSG, followed by a goalless draw with AC Milan.

So, it is imperative that they get something out of this fixture if they want to progress to the knockout stages. Dortmund have never faced Newcastle before but they have plenty of experience playing in the UK.

However, Edin Terzić’s side may not be relishing this trip as they’ve lost their last six European away games against English opponents, conceding at least twice on each occasion. Another concern is that the 1996/97 UCL winners have won just one of their last seven UCL away games (D1, L5).