Borussia Dortmund and SC Verl continue to step up preparations for the 2022-23 campaign with a pre-season contest on Thursday at Stadion am Lotter Kreuz.
The third-tier hosts claimed a 3-1 victory over Dutch outfit Heracles in their last exhibition encounter, while Borussia Dortmund beat Dynamo Dresden 2-0.
After managing to keep Verl in the 3. Liga by a very narrow margin last season, Michel Kniat is preparing another campaign in the hotset as this week’s hosts look to salvage their third-tier status once again.
Verl climbed into the 3. Liga for the first time in the club’s history in the COVID-hit 2019-20 season and made an immediate impression at that level by finishing sevent in the 2020-21 campaign.
Michel Kniat’s side were at risk of relegation until the final week of the 2021-22 season, but they can look ahead to a third consecutive year of 3. Liga football, and results in pre-season indicate that the club could certainly improve on their 16th-placed finish this time around.
Meanwhile, despite leading Borussia Dortmund to DFB-Pokal glory during his time in interim charge, Edin Terzic would not be handed the reigns on a full-time basis in 2021, as Dortmund turned to Marco Rose to help the club finally try to end Bayern Munich’s run of dominance.
From his role as technical manager, Terzic could only watch from afar as Dortmund finished second best yet again, and after Rose was dismissed after just one season in charge, the 39-year-old was given a three-year contract in the Westfalenstadion hotseat.
The Black and Yellows will be taking on Valencia, Villarreal and Antalyaspor before they open their Bundesliga campaign with a heavyweight showdown against Bayer Leverkusen on August 6, and the squad will have more of a familiar feel to it for Thursday’s trip to Verl.
SC Verl vs Borussia Dortmund head to head
The two teams have not previously met on any occasion and this will be the first time they meet in a club friendly match.
SC Verl latest home form
SC Verl have recently been on a good run of form at home, having been unbeaten in their five most recent matches. They managed to defeat Heracles 3-1 in their last home game in a friendly. In their last five matches, they have scored 18 goals and conceded just five.
Verl 3-0 Wehen Wiesbaden 30/04/22
Verl 1-1 MSV Duisburg 14/05/22
Verl 9-1 Schwarz-Weib Rehden 19/06/22
Verl 2-2 Paderborn 25/06/22
Verl 3-1 Heracles 08/07/22
SC Verl latest away form
SC Verl have recently failed to keep a good run of form on the road, having won just two of their five most recent matches. They lost 1-0 to Schalke 04 in their last away game in a friendly. In their last five matches, they have scored six goals and conceded nine.
Preuben Munster 3-0 Verl 06/04/22
Osnabruck 3-2 Verl 11/04/22
Saarbrucken 1-2 Verl 23/04/22
Borussia Dortmund II 1-2 Verl 06/05/22
Schalke 04 1-0 Verl 06/07/22
Borussia Dortmund latest home form
Borussia Dortmund have recently failed to keep a good run of form at home, having won just two of their five most recent matches. They managed to defeat Hertha Berlin 2-1 in their last home game in Bundesliga. In their last five matches, they have scored 14 goals and conceded 13.
Borussia Dortmund 1-4 RB Leipzig 02/04/22
Borussia Dortmund 6-1 Wolfsburg 16/04/22
Borussia Dortmund 2-3 Dinamo Kiev 26/04/22
Borussia Dortmund 3-4 Bochum 30/04/22
Borussia Dortmund 2-1 Hertha Berlin 14/05/22
Borussia Dortmund latest away form
Borussia Dortmund have recently been on a good run of form on the road, having won each of their three most recent matches. They managed to defeat defeat Dynamo Dresden 2-0 in their last away game in a friendly. In their last five matches, they have scored 11 goals and conceded five.
Stuttgart 0-2 Borussia Dortmund 08/04/22
Bayern Munich 3-1 Borussia Dortmund 23/04/22
Greuther Furth 1-3 Borussia Dortmund 07/05/22
Luner SV 1-3 Borussia Dortmund 05/07/22
Dynamo Dresden 0-2 Borussia Dortmund 09/07/22
SC Verl news
SC Verl centre-back Barne Pernot is still out recovering from a cruciate ligament rupture, while left-back Luca Stellwagen was only able to complete 40 minutes of the win over Heracles.
Jan-phillip Eichhorn could deputise for Stellwagen if the 23-year-old is not cleared to feature, but Verl should otherwise be working with a fully-fit squad.
Borussia Dortmund news
Terzic welcomed his crop of international players back to base for training on Monday, with Ozcan, Sule, Haller, Adeyemi and Schlotterbeck likely to make their non-competitive debuts for the club.
Raphael Guerriero, Jude Bellingham and Marco Reus will take to the field, with the latter shaking of his muscular injury.
Prediction and Odds
Borussia Dortmund’s returning internacional players have not had long to bond with their crop of new teammates, and their fans should not expect a totally fluid team performance.
However, BVB are full of youthful quality as ever, so they should prevail in spite of Verl’s respectable set of early pre-season results.
Odds: 1 2.88 X 2.10 2 1.82
Probable outcomes
Verl 0-2 Borussia Dortmund
Verl 1-2 Borussia Dortmund
Verl 0-3 Borussia Dortmund
Verl 1-3 Borussia Dortmund
Verl 1-4 Borussia Dortmund
