Reigning La Liga champions Real Madrid have started the defence of their title in impressive fashion and will look to continue their excellent form when they host unbeaten Real Betis tomorrow, Saturday, September 3. However, today, September 2, German giants Borussia Dortmund and Hoffenheim will collide in a blockbuster affair.

Event # 1 – Borussia Dortmund vs Hoffenheim – 1:30 pm

Off to their second best-ever start to a Bundesliga season, Hoffenheim have a chance to end their poor head-to-head encounters against Borussia Dortmund when they travel to Signal Iduna Park today. Both these sides are currently on nine points after four matches in the season so far.

After making the wrong kind of history in their previous home match, becoming the first home side in the Bundesliga to concede three goals from the 89th minute onwards to lose 3-2 to promoted side Werder Bremen, Dortmund bounced back to beat Hertha Berlin last weekend to maintain an otherwise good start to the season. That defeat to Werder Bremen at home was the first time since the 2014/15 season that Dortmund had dropped points in at least one of their two opening matches at home.

With that said, they will welcome Hoffenheim with an aim to continue their good form against the side they beat 3-2 in this exact fixture last season – they did the double over the Hoffenheim side last season, winning both matches 3-2 after success in only one of their previous seven head-to-head meetings.

While Dortmund have had the upper hand against Hoffenheim in their recent meetings, they have had a difficult time containing the Hoffenheim attack on home soil, conceding 11 goals against them since the start of 2019. Indeed, Hoffenheim have started the new Bundesliga campaign in excellent form, having won three of their opening four matches, their largest points tally (9) at this point of the season since 2010/11. Hoffenheim’s favourable start has been attributed to recently appointed coach Andre Breitenreiter, who guided Swiss side Zurich to the Super League title in 2022, their first domestic title since 2008. The current three-match winning run for Hoffenheim is their longest since they won four straight league matches between February and March last season.

KEY STATS

• Dortmund – suffered a 3-2 defeat against Werder Bremen in their last Bundesliga home game, meaning they have dropped points in at least one of their first two home matches of a top-flight campaign for the first time since 2014/15 (also W1 L1). Dortmund have not failed to win in back-to-back Bundesliga home games since the end of 2020.

• Hoffenheim – tally of nine points from four games represents their second-best start to a Bundesliga campaign since 2010/11 (10). No Hoffenheim coach has taken more points from their first four top-flight matches at the club than Andre Breitenreiter (9), the same as Matthias Kaltenbach in 2020).

• Both sides – did the double over TSG Hoffenheim last season for the first time ever, having won just one of their previous seven encounters against the Sinsheim side. BVB are looking forward to celebrate three successive victories against TSG for the first time in the Bundesliga.

The betting tip. Dortmund win & GG – both teams to score.

Event # 2 SPA – Real Madrid vs Real Betis – 9:15 am

Reigning La Liga and Champions League champions Real Madrid will aim to make it four straight wins to start the new campaign when they host unbeaten Real Betis at home tomorrow, Saturday, September 3. Despite Barcelona’s heavy spending in the transfer window this summer, Real Madrid are favoured to win La Liga again this season, and with three wins so far coming away from home, due to ongoing development work at the Bernabeu, Madrid are in good stead to defend their title. Star striker Karim Benzema picked up where he left off from last season’s scoring exploits, netting his second and third goals of the season in Madrid’s 3-1 win in their last game against Espanyol at the weekend.

Last season was almost perfect for Real Betis. They won the Copa del Rey for the third time in the club’s history, but critics pointed to the fact that they didn’t face any of Spain’s big three on their way to glory, but Coach Manuel Pellegrini responded by telling them you can only beat what’s in front of you, and Betis still had to see off Sevilla, Sociedad, and Valencia. In La Liga, Betis narrowly missed the top four and qualification for the Champions League, having finished fifth in the table. Still, they have brushed off that disappointment to make an excellent start to the new season as they are one of only three teams in Europe’s top five leagues with a 100 per cent record (the other two are Arsenal and Real Madrid). Betis beat Elche 3-0 to open their campaign before narrow wins over Real Mallorca (2-1) and Osasuna (1-0).

KEY STATS

• Real Madrid – Real have gone four LaLiga games in a row without losing against Real Betis (W2 D2), keeping a clean sheet in the last three (W1 D2). Only once in history have they gone more league games without conceding against Real Betis (October 2005-September 2007).

• Real Betis – have been unbeaten in their last six La Liga matches (W5 D1), keeping five clean sheets, including winning all three they have played in the current campaign – they have not started a top-flight season with four wins since 2011/12 (W4).

• Both sides – Real Madrid have not won any of their last five LaLiga home games against Real Betis (D3 L2) and could equal their worst winless run at home against the same opponent in the history of the competition (six against Valencia in March 1948 and Atlético de Madrid in September 2018).

The betting tip. Draw and both sides scoring.

JUSTBET ODDS – Borussia Dortmund vs Hoffenheim

Friday, September 2, 2022

PredictionOdds on PredictionOdds Calculation

DORTMUND TO WIN$1.64which means a $1,000 bet would pay $1,640

HOFFENHEIM TO WIN$4.40which means a $1,000 bet would pay $4,400

MATCH TO DRAW$4.40which means a $1,000 bet would pay $4,400

Odds on the Home Team (Dortmund) winning the game 3-1 at full time$11.00which means that a $1,000 bet would pay $11,000

Odds on the Away Team (Hoffenheim) winning the game 2-3 at full time$31.00which means that a $1,000 bet would pay $31,000

Odds on the game drawing 2-2 at full time$12.00which means that a $1,000 bet would pay $12,000.

JUSTBET ODDS – Real Madrid vs Real Betis

Saturday, September 3, 2022

PredictionOdds on PredictionOdds Calculation

REAL MADRID TO WIN$1.41which means a $1,000 bet would pay $1,410

REAL BETIS TO WIN$6.50which means a $1,000 bet would pay $6,500

MATCH TO DRAW$5.00which means a $1,000 bet would pay $5,000

Odds on the Home Team (Real) winning the game 2-0 at full time$8.50which means that a $1,000 bet would pay $8,500

Odds on the Away Team (Betis) winning the game 0-1 at full time$21.00which means that a $1,000 bet would pay $21,000

Odds on the game drawing 0-0 at full time$21.00which means that a $1,000 bet would pay $21,000.