Chelsea at Borussia Dortmund: Champions League betting guide and tips

Here are your betting guide and tips for Champions League clash Borussia Dortmund vs Chelsea

There really isn’t much left to play for during this Chelsea season. Any hope of qualifying for a spot in next year’s European competitions evaporated over the past three weeks after draws against Liverpool, Fulham, and West Ham saw the Blues marooned in 10th place on the Premier League table.

It was always unlikely that the £300 million January spending spree would yield immediate improvement, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t disappointed with the ROI so far. At least the relegation zone appears to be out of reach, but the lack of meaningful matches on the horizon has left me feeling somewhat apathetic toward our beloved pride of London. It seems about time to write off the remainder of the 2022/23 campaign.

The only trophy that Chelsea still has any hope of challenging for is the Champions League. Unfortunately, the 2020/21 winners are facing one of the hottest teams on the continent right now in Borussia Dortmund.

BVB is in the midst of a six-match winning streak during which the German side has outscored its opponents by a 17-6 aggregate scoreline. Manager Edin Terzic has finally found the right combination of youthful energy and veteran experience during his second stint on the Dortmund touchline.

Starlets such as Karim Adeyemi, Youssoufa Moukoko, and Jude Bellingham have greatly improved alongside accomplished pros like Marco Reus and Sebastien Haller, who on a personal level might be having one of the most remarkable seasons in the history of the game. Traveling to the Signal-Iduna will obviously be a monumental task for the struggling Blues, but I don’t want to count them out entirely before kickoff. Anything can happen on a European night.

I’m probably going to stay away from betting the final result of this clash, but there are a few plays that I really like. One of them is over 2.5 total goals to be scored in the contest at -106 odds. While Chelsea has taken part in three consecutive snoozers, BVB has found itself in a number of high-scoring affairs during this winning streak.

At least three goals have been scored in four of Dortmund’s six victories, and the 4-3 thriller against Augsburg back on January 22 should genuinely be in the conversation for most entertaining game to have taken place in any league since the end of the World Cup. I’m confident that we’ll get to three goals somehow, I’m just hoping the final scoreline doesn’t read BVB 3-0 CHE.

A second bet I’ve been keeping my eye on is over 9.5 corners to be taken in the match. I really like this play for its value at +112 odds, but the statistics also support my belief that it will hit. The Blues have taken at least five corners in four of their past five outings, while Dortmund has done it in three of their previous five.

I’m hoping that a high number of corner kicks will correlate to lots of goals, so we might be looking at an all or nothing scenario with these first two plays. While I’ll definitely be taking them separately, I fully support anyone who wants to put together a nice little parlay at +309 odds.

Official odds (via FanDuel as of February 13)

Chelsea ML: +200

Borussia Dortmund ML: +145

Draw: +230

Over/Under: 2.5 (-106/-116)

My picks:

Like I said, I’m hesitant to put any money on the final result for this match, mostly because I have a feeling we Chelsea supporters won’t be happy with the outcome. However, collecting winnings on neutral bets while watching a Blues’ upset victory sounds like a lovely way to spend a Wednesday evening.

Give me both of the aforementioned plays, over 2.5 total goals at -106 and over 9.5 total corner kicks at +112, respectively. I’m going back to the well that did so much good for me earlier in the season with my final pick for this match. I’ll take ole’ reliable, both teams to score prop, at -140 odds. We’re hoping for goals, folks, it’s as simple as that. Odds are subject to change.