Borussia Dortmund vs Lille: Preview, predictions and lineups

Borussia Dortmund continue their Champions League adventure on Tuesday evening when they host Lille in the first leg of their last 16 tie.

Last season’s finalists finished just outside the top eight during the inaugural Champions League league phase, resulting in a two-legged play-off with Sporting CP rather than automatic progress to the round of 16. Fortunately for BVB, a change of manager helped see them past the Lisbon side in comfortable fashion.

Niko Kovac’s arrival has forced an upturn in form for Dortmund after they struggled under Nuri Sahin, with the former Bayern Munich and Monaco manager having overseen three victories and four clean sheets in his last five matches.

Lille lost their coach over the summer as Paulo Fonseca left for Milan, but replacement Bruno Genesio has impressed since taking over. Les Dogues are fifth in Ligue 1 – only five points off second-placed Marseille – and won five of their eight league phase battles as they finished seventh, including impressive victories over Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid.

Here is 90min’s guide to an intriguing affair.

Borussia Dortmund vs Lille head-to-head record (All time)

Current form (all competitions)

Felix Nmecha in Dortmund’s only confirmed absentee for Tuesday’s clash after Kovac’s squad appeared to come through the weekend win at St Pauli unscathed. The German midfielder is sidelined with a knee issue at present.

Julian Ryerson missed out the 2-0 win on Saturday with illness but could make a return at right-back against Lille. Manchester City loanee Yan Couto operated in his place against St Pauli.

Julian Brandt made his return from injury during a brief cameo at the weekend but is unlikely to be rushed back into the starting lineup for the Lille clash.

Dortmund predicted lineup vs Lille (4-2-3-1): Kobel; Ryerson, Can, Schlotterbeck, Bensebaini; Sabitzer, Gross; Adeyemi, Reyna, Gittens; Guirassy.

Lille will almost certainly be missing key contributor Edon Zhegrova again on Tuesday night, with the Kosovo international having been absent since December. He’s closing in on a return but admitted his desire to leave the club recently.

Samuel Umtiti is also missing due to a knee injury and Tiago Santos is out for the remainder of the campaign after tearing his ACL.

Star striker Jonathan David should be fresh for the trip to Dortmund after only being used from the bench during the weekend defeat to Paris Saint-Germain. The Canada international still scored in the 4-1 demolition.

Ex-Dortmund defender Thomas Meunier could start at right-back against his former employers.

Lille predicted lineup vs Dortmund (4-2-3-1): Chevalier; Meunier, Diakite, Ribeiro, Gudmundsson; Andre, Bouaddi; Mukau, Gomes, Haraldsson; David.

Dortmund have renewed confidence after back-to-back Bundesliga victories and shutouts as they begin to turn the corner under Kovac, with Tuesday an excellent opportunity for them to build momentum ahead of the final two months of the campaign.

They have flexed their attacking muscles with eight goals across their last two games, with Serhou Guirassy in particularly devastating form having scored five of them.

Lille will be hard pushed to keep Dortmund’s speedy and exuberant front line quiet, even though they boast a generally strong defensive record. They will fancy their chances of getting on the scoresheet, especially with David leading the line, but may have to accept defeat at Signal Iduna Park.

Prediction: Borussia Dortmund 3-1 Lille

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