Sports Mole previews Wednesday’s friendly clash between Cerezo Osaka and Borussia Dortmund, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
Borussia Dortmund will play their second and final game of their pre-season tour of Asia when they face J1 League side Cerezo Osaka on Wednesday.
Newly-appointed Dortmund boss Nuri Sahin will be keen to build momentum in the remaining three friendlies ahead of his first season as a Bundesliga head coach.
Match preview
While Dortmund are preparing for the new season, Cerezo Osaka are already 24 games into their 2024 J1 League season.
Akio Kogiku‘s side may be pleased to have the distraction of a friendly, having failed to win any of their last four competitive matches.
A draw against Tokyo Verdy was followed by an extra-time defeat to second-tier Ventforet Kofu in the third round of the Emperor’s Cup.
They then returned to league action with a 1-1 draw against Kawasaki Frontale, before losing 2-1 in Saturday’s home clash with Albirex Niigata, leaving them in sixth place and seven points adrift of the top three.
Cerezo Osaka will now hope to produce a strong display against Dortmund to build confidence ahead of their next league meeting with Machida Zelvia on August 7.
Dortmund will enter the 2024-25 campaign under new management after Edin Terzic left his position following the Champions League final defeat to Real Madrid.
Terzic’s assistant Sahin has taken over the reins at Signal Iduna Park to embark on his second managerial job after previously coaching Turkish side Antalyaspor.
Sahin, who made 274 appearances for Dortmund as a player, will be tasked with overseeing an improved domestic campaign after die Schwarzgelben experienced a disappointing fifth-placed finish last season – their lowest league position since finishing in seventh spot in 2014-15.
Unfortunately for Sahin, Dortmund have experienced a poor start to their pre-season schedule, playing out a 1-1 draw against 3.Liga side Erzgebirge Aue before suffering a shock defeat to Thai club BG Pathum United on Sunday.
They will hope to claim their first win of pre-season in Wednesday’s clash in Osaka, before they return to Europe to round off their preparations with friendlies against Villarreal and Aston Villa.
Cerezo Osaka form (all competitions):
Borussia Dortmund friendly form:
Team News
The hosts are unable to call upon the services of defender Ryuya Nishio, who is set to represent Japan at the 2024 Olympics.
In Nishio’s absence, Kogiku is likely to use Koji Turiumi and Kakeru Funaki as his central-defensive pairing for the second game in a row.
Former Dortmund man Shinji Kagawa has been absent from the last two matchday squads, but the 35-year-old will hope to play some role in Wednesday’s friendly against a club where he won two Bundesliga titles and two DFB-Pokal trophies.
Gregor Kobel, Nico Schlotterbeck, Emre Can, Marcel Sabitzer, Donyell Malen and Niclas Fullkrug have all been left out the squad for the tour of Asia due to their participation at Euro 2024.
Giovanni Reyna, who has returned to the club following a loan spell with Nottingham Forest, is set to link up with the squad after missing the first two friendlies following his involvement in USA’s Copa America campaign.
However, Dortmund’s two new additions Waldemar Anton and Serhou Guirassy have not travelled to Asia, with the latter working on his recovery from a knee injury.
Cerezo Osaka possible starting lineup:
Kim; Okuda, Toriumi, Funaki, Noborizato; Uejo, Tanaka, Okuno; Fernandes, Capixaba, Leo Ceara
Borussia Dortmund possible starting lineup:
Meyer; Ryerson, Sule, Luhrs, Rothe; Nmecha, Kamara; Bynoe-Gittens, Brandt, Adeyemi; Moukoko
We say: Cerezo Osaka 1-2 Borussia Dortmund
Dortmund may be unable to call upon a number of key players, but they will still be highly motivated to claim a win after a couple of disappointing results, and we ultimately think that they will do enough to claim a narrow victory over Cerezo Osaka.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.