Match Preview: Inter vs Borussia Dortmund

Inter will host Borussia Dortmund this Wednesday in Group F on match-day three of this seasons Champions League campaign. The Nerazzuri will be looking to put three points on the board for the first time in the competition after a draw with Slavia Prague and a harsh defeat in Barcelona.

DORTMUND

This week’s opponents come in the form of German giants Borussia Dortmund who really do not need much of an introduction. It is well known that Dortmund are a big club and have a very strong squad, they are part of the reason this group was given the ‘group of death’ label.

However they have not had as strong as a start to their Bundesliga campaign as their ever faithful fans would have expected. Dortmund a good summer of recruitment bringing good signings such as Thorgan Hazard, Julian Brandt and former fan favourite Matts Hummels made his return from rivals Bayern Munich.

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They currently sit in fourth place in the German top flight after eight games, winning half of them, drawing three and suffering one defeat. Dropping this many points early on is certainly not what the club and fans would have expected as they usually want to be competing for the German title.

After two games in the Champions League group they do, however, remain unbeaten after a stalemate at home to Barcelona in the opening fixture and a victory in Prague in the previous European game.

Dortmund certainly pose a threat to Inter on Wednesday, they are a strong team with some very dangerous attacking players. The likes of Jadon Sancho, Julian Brandt, Thorgan Hazard and many others can cause any team problems if they show up.

INTER

Inter come into the fixture off the back of a 4-3 victory over Sassuolo at the weekend. Inter needed a result to bounce back from the Juventus loss before the international break and did just that in Emilia-Romagna with Lautaro Martinez and Romelu Lukaku both grabbing a brace each.

Inter are still competing at the top of Serie A, sitting in second place just one point behind league leaders and champions Juventus. The Nerazzuri will be feeling confident in this early season period after a good start.

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However, the same cannot be said regarding Inter’s start the Champions League journey, currently only picking up one point in two games. The point, of course, coming against Slavia Prague in match-day one at San Siro, a game which on paper Inter should be winning but a poor performance on the night meant coming away with a point seem fortunate for Antonio Conte and his men.

Despite Group F being undoubtedly a tough one, Inter should be looking for nothing over than to qualify for the knockout stages of the competition, based on having a big-club mentality and based on the way the team has performed so far in the league this season.

Dortmund will certainly be a tough game but Inter should be going 100% for the three points, mainly because looking at the current situation in the group, three points are needed but also because this is Inter, this is San Siro under the lights on a European night.

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TEAM NEWS

Inter will be of course be without summer loan signing Alexis Sanchez after his injury while international duty and midfielder Stefan Sensi is also a doubt for Conte after he sustained a thigh injury. Also missing is Danilo D’Ambrosio who is recovering from a broken toe. Conte may be tempted to go with a similar line up to the one that defeated Sassuolo at the weekend.

Dortmund will also be without key players as striker Paco Alcacer continues to be sidelined due to an achilles tendon issue. Swiss international goalkeeper Roman Burki came off in Dortmund's victory over Borussia Monchengladbach at the weekend.

PREDICTED LINE UP’S

PREDICTION

A tough game in store for Inter but I think the importance of the three points should have Antonio Conte and his players fired up for the fixture, considering both team’s league form and the way Inter have played at San Siro (apart from Slavia Prague) I think the Nerazzuri will secure the three points and kick start this seasons European adventure.