- Kick-off
- Venue
- Signal Iduna Park, Dortmund
Our call: Borussia Dortmund win 2–1
Betis will score, as they almost always do, but Serhou Guirassy against Marc Bartra gets Dortmund the extra goal at home.
We'll mark this call after full time.
Logged 2 Nov, 09:41 UTC, never edited.
In 30 seconds
- Real Betis are fifth with nine points from three games; Borussia Dortmund are 13th with six. The top eight go straight to the round of 16.
- Both sides have lost one of their last ten games.
- Betis' perfect European start ends in Dortmund.
The story
Niko Kovač's Borussia Dortmund come into Wed 4 Nov from a 2–2 draw at Bayern München on Sat 31 Oct. Konrad Laimer and Dayot Upamecano put Bayern ahead twice, Harry Kane hit the bar with a penalty, and Serhou Guirassy and the substitute Fábio Silva, on 89 minutes, scored for Dortmund. Bundesliga.com has the two clubs level on 18 points after eight games.
In Europe, Dortmund have six points: a 3–2 home win over Villarreal, a 0–1 defeat at Bodø/Glimt on 14 Oct and a 2–1 win at Sabah six days later. Guirassy has four of their Champions League goals this season, UEFA says, and Dortmund have won their last four UEFA home games against Spanish clubs.
Manuel Pellegrini's Real Betis are on their best European run: 3–2 at Lille, 3–2 at home to Porto and 1–0 against Feyenoord, their first three Champions League wins in a row. This is the clubs' first meeting in UEFA competition, Betis' first Champions League game against a German side, and Pellegrini's 70th Champions League game as a coach; his Málaga lost to Dortmund in the 2012/13 quarter-finals. Betis beat Málaga 2–1 on 31 Oct, and their only defeat in ten was 2–5 at home to Barcelona on 17 Oct.
This decides it: Serhou Guirassy against Marc Bartra. Bartra joined Betis from Dortmund in 2018, started at centre-back against Málaga, and has 3 goals of his own in Betis' last ten. Guirassy has scored more than anyone else in the Dortmund side over the same span. If Bartra and Natan keep him quiet, Betis can leave with a point; if not, Dortmund's home run goes on.
How the Champions League 2026/27 works, with the full league-phase table
Form
Unbeaten in five since the defeat at Bodø/Glimt.
Three wins; the defeat was against Barcelona.
The games, with scores
| Borussia Dortmund | 31 Oct | at Bayern MünchenBL | D 2–2 |
| 27 Oct | v Werder BremenDFB | W 3–2 | |
| 24 Oct | v Eintracht FrankfurtBL | W 1–0 | |
| 20 Oct | at SabahUCL | W 2–1 | |
| 17 Oct | at Union BerlinBL | D 0–0 | |
| Real Betis | 31 Oct | v MálagaLL | W 2–1 |
| 25 Oct | at Celta VigoLL | D 0–0 | |
| 21 Oct | v FeyenoordUCL | W 1–0 | |
| 17 Oct | v BarcelonaLL | L 2–5 | |
| 14 Oct | v FC PortoUCL | W 3–2 |
Latest first. Latest on the left. BL = Bundesliga, DFB = DFB-Pokal, UCL = Champions League, LL = La Liga. OddsIntel match database, read 1 Nov 2026.
Team news
Checked Sun 1 Nov 22:20 UTC: Bundesliga.com (its matchday-8 absences list of 30 Oct), UEFA.com's match page and matchday-4 preview, realbetisbalompie.es, and the 31 Oct match reports on Sky Sports and ESPN. Reported = not yet confirmed by the club for this match. Line-ups: confirmed about an hour before kick-off; they go under Updates. We don't publish guessed XIs.
One Dortmund scorer did not start on 31 Oct. Fábio Silva, with 2 goals in Dortmund's last ten, began on the bench in Munich, came on in the second half and scored the equaliser after 89 minutes. Nobody has reported him injured.
Real Betis 4-3-3 · v Málaga, 31 Oct
- Vallés
- BellerínBartra (key battle)NatanGarcía
- IscoRocaFornals
- RiquelmeParrottEzzalzouli
- Guirassy (key battle)
- BeierBellingham
- SvenssonNmechaVeermanChukwuemeka
- SchlotterbeckAntonGadou
- Kobel
Borussia Dortmund 3-4-2-1 · v Bayern, 31 Oct
Both last XIs on a pitch
Real Betis 4-3-3 · v Málaga, 31 Oct
- Vallés
- BellerínBartra (key battle)NatanGarcía
- IscoRocaFornals
- RiquelmeParrottEzzalzouli
- Guirassy (key battle)
- BeierBellingham
- SvenssonNmechaVeermanChukwuemeka
- SchlotterbeckAntonGadou
- Kobel
Borussia Dortmund 3-4-2-1 · v Bayern, 31 Oct
Who to watch
The duel to watch: Serhou Guirassy against Marc Bartra. Guirassy led the line alone in Munich and scored; Bartra started in the middle of Betis' back four against Málaga. He knows the ground from his years at Dortmund. If he and Natan can stop the ball reaching Guirassy in the box, Betis' midfield can keep the game tight; if Guirassy gets turned towards goal, Dortmund only need one or two chances.
Borussia Dortmund
Serhou Guirassy
Scored at Bayern on 31 Oct; four Champions League goals this season, says UEFA.
- 6
- goals, Dortmund's last 10
Real Betis
Isco
Started in Betis' midfield on 31 Oct; scored against Dortmund for Real Madrid in a 2014 quarter-final.
- 4
- goals, Betis' last 10
Real Betis
Abdessamad Ezzalzouli
Started in Betis' front three against Málaga.
- 4
- goals, Betis' last 10
Goals with a known scorer in each side's last ten games, all competitions. OddsIntel match database, read 1 Nov 2026.
Numbers that matter
Goals scored, last ten: Borussia Dortmund 17, Real Betis 20 (higher is better)
Betis scored in nine of their ten; Dortmund in eight.
Goals conceded, last ten · fewer is better: Borussia Dortmund 10, Real Betis 14 (lower is better)
Betis conceded in seven of their ten; Dortmund in six.
Clean sheets, last ten: Borussia Dortmund 4, Real Betis 3 (higher is better)
All four of Dortmund's came in the Bundesliga; Betis kept one in Europe, against Feyenoord.
Last ten games each, all competitions. OddsIntel match database, read 1 Nov 2026.
Our call, explained
Our call: Borussia Dortmund win 2–1. We expect Betis to score, because they have done it in nine of their last ten, and Dortmund conceded in three of their five home games in that run. We expect Dortmund to score twice: they scored at least twice in four of those five home games, and Guirassy found the net again in Munich. Guirassy against Bartra is where the winner comes from, and Dortmund have won their last four UEFA games against Spanish clubs, all at home.
Where this could go wrong. Betis have not lost away in this run, with two wins and two draws, and if they score first a draw is likelier than a Betis win. The other way, Betis let in five at home to Barcelona, and if Dortmund's midfield runs the game the margin could be bigger than one.
Updates
Nothing has changed since we published. Next: Kovač's and Pellegrini's press conferences on Tue 3 Nov, UEFA's choice of referee, and both confirmed team sheets about an hour before kick-off.
Data note: results, scorers, the table and line-ups from our database, read 1 Nov 21:40 UTC, so the counts include both sides' games on Sat 31 Oct. In those ten games the scorer lists have no name for 1 Dortmund goal and 1 Betis goal, so each player's tally is a minimum. Team news and match details from Bundesliga.com, UEFA.com, realbetisbalompie.es, ESPN and Sky Sports.
Our calls so far
- calls right
- 30/50
- home win every time
- 23/50