
Borussia Dortmund host Villarreal at Signal Iduna Park on Tuesday, September 8 (3:00 PM ET / 2:00 PM CT / 12:00 PM PT).
Borussia Dortmund’s team news starts with a lengthy absentee list. The suspended Daniel Svensson misses out after his red card, while the injured Nico Schlotterbeck (ankle) and Emre Can (cruciate ligament) remain sidelined, along with injured absentees Filippo Mane, Justin Lerma, Giorgos Konstantelias and Mussa Kaba. That leaves the attacking burden on Serhou Guirassy and Felix Nmecha, who scored four and three goals respectively last season, with Nmecha’s eleven chances created the highest creative tally in the squad. Villarreal have no fresh fitness concerns of their own and can call on Nicolas Pepe’s craft and Georges Mikautadze’s movement through the middle.
Dortmund are the clear favorites on home turf against a Villarreal side who won’t make it easy on them. Both sides have the attacking pieces to hurt each other, and with both teams to score and over 2.5 goals looking like the shape of things, this reads like an open, end-to-end contest rather than a cagey afternoon. Signal Iduna Park’s atmosphere should count for something too, with Dortmund looking to make home advantage tell in the opening fixture of the league phase.
US viewers can watch Borussia Dortmund vs Villarreal on Paramount+.
Borussia Dortmund vs Villarreal: Best Bets & Predictions
Dortmund's firepower meets Villarreal's road threat as the Champions League league phase gets under way.
Our approach: back the picks where the team news, home advantage and the goal markets all point the same direction, rather than chase the long-odds outlier.
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Season Form & Standings
Neither side has a league-phase points total to point to yet — both go into this at zero points from zero games, so early impressions matter more than the table.
Recent domestic form. Here’s how each side arrives domestically ahead of the European opener:
Borussia Dortmund · Bundesliga 2026/27
WW
- 05 Sep – Hoffenheim 2–3 Borussia Dortmund (A) W
- 29 Aug – Borussia Dortmund 2–0 Hamburger SV (H) W
Villarreal · La Liga 2026/27
DDLL
- 05 Sep – Villarreal 2–3 Deportivo de La Coruna (H) L
- 28 Aug – Deportivo Alaves 1–0 Villarreal (A) L
- 23 Aug – Atletico Madrid 2–2 Villarreal (A) D
- 16 Aug – Racing de Santander 2–2 Villarreal (A) D
Potential Match-Winners
- Serhou Guirassy (Borussia Dortmund): Guirassy’s four goals and three assists last season arrived from eighteen shots, ten of which were on target — proof he doesn’t need a mountain of chances to make an impact.
- Felix Nmecha (Borussia Dortmund): Nmecha created eleven chances last season, the highest tally on this list, while adding three goals of his own from eleven shots.
- Nicolas Pepe (Villarreal): Pepe didn’t find the net last season, but his nineteen shots and nineteen chances created show he’s still the player Villarreal build their attacking play around.
Borussia Dortmund vs Villarreal Prediction
Expect Dortmund’s home advantage and attacking depth to tell, though Villarreal’s threat through Pepe and Mikautadze should mean goals for both sides. A tight, entertaining evening at Signal Iduna Park ends with the hosts edging it 2-1.



