Paderborn vs Borussia Dortmund Predictions

• Paderborn are winless in their previous nine league contests, losing six.
• Borussia Dortmund have scored at least two goals in nine of their last 11 league matches.
• Paderborn have failed to score in three of their last five games in the Bundesliga.

Title aspirations all but over for Dortmund

Defeat to Bayern Munich on Tuesday has all but ended Borussia Dortmund’s hopes of a first Bundesliga title since the 2011/12 campaign but there’s incentive to keep winning games with a trip to basement boys Paderborn next on the list.

Dortmund will be looking over their shoulder at the chasing pack of RB Leipzig, Borussia Monchengladbach and Bayer Leverkusen, knowing they could even fall out of the top four if they allow the Bayern defeat to spark a downturn in form.

Lucien Favre’s men did, in fact, perform well in Der Klassiker, mustering 11 shots, five of which were on target, and if they were more prolific in the final third, they could have come away from the game with maximum points.

Instead it was a delectable chip from Joshua Kimmich which handed Bayern Munich a 1-0 win and brought Dortmund’s six-match winning run to an end.

But we predict that a visit to the Benteler-Arena to face struggling Paderborn should see them get back to winning ways.

Paderborn face rising tide of relegation

Hosts Paderborn have won only four of their 28 league assignments this season and have drawn all three of their matches since the restart against struggling Fortuna Dusseldorf, Hoffenheim and Augsburg sides.

This season only Werder Bremen (six) have collected fewer points at home than Paderborn (eight), who have lost ten of their 14 home assignments in the Bundesliga.

Among the highlights of Paderborn’s Bundesliga season was the reverse fixture with Borussia Dortmund, though, in which they had raced into a 3-0 lead at the Signal Iduna Park, only to draw 3-3.

They impressed by establishing the lead but they way they let Dortmund back into the game reeked of inexperience and defensive vulnerability.

That weakness at the back is highlighted by the fact they have kept only one clean sheet in their 14 home matches this season and even that came against a Fortuna Dusseldorf side who have been hovering above the relegation zone for most of the campaign.

Comfortable win on the cards for visiting Dortmund

Dortmund were wasteful last time out but even an attack which could be missing Erling Haaland, who limped off with a knee injury against Bayern, can run out comprehensive winners.

Dortmund’s away matches are averaging 3.71 goals per game, they have failed to scored in only three of their 28 games this term and their tally of 74 goals netted this season is bettered only by Bayern Munich. 

Paderborn are feeble at the back but they are also toothless in the final third – Streli Mamba is their top scorer with five league goals – and with those factors considered, backing Dortmund at -1 goal on the handicap may be the way to go.

That bet clicked in Dortmund’s wins over Schalke and Wolfsburg since the restart and they are facing far weaker opposition this time around.

Nine of Dortmund’s previous 11 wins in the Bundesliga have been by at least two goals and, with that in mind, a 3-0 correct score prediction also looks favourable.