Sabah v Borussia Dortmund: Champions League preview, predicted line-ups & team news

Borussia Dortmund travel to Baku on Tuesday with a point to prove after losing 1-0 away to Bodo/Glimt in their last Champions League outing.

It is matchday three of the league stage. Dortmund have one win and one defeat from their first two games. Sabah have the same record, having lost 4-0 at Manchester United and then beaten Slavia Praha 2-0 at home on 13 October.

Sabah came through qualifying the hard way. They beat The New Saints home and away, then KuPS home and away, before losing 2-1 at Aarhus and winning the return 4-0. They then lost 2-1 at Hapoel Beer Sheva before a 5-2 home win in the second leg. Across all competitions this season they have scored 14 goals and conceded two in five home games, with four clean sheets.

Dortmund opened with a 3-2 home win over Villarreal on 8 September. All three of their goals came between the 76th and 90th minutes, which says plenty about how that game was won. They then failed to score in Norway on 14 October.

Dortmund have played only two league-phase games, so there is no heavy fixture congestion to force wholesale changes. Expect a strong XI from the visitors, who cannot afford a second defeat in three games.

Sabah are a different case. Their away record is far weaker than their home one: three defeats in five on the road, with nine goals conceded. At home they should keep the same shape that beat Slavia Praha.

Dortmund have used a 3-4-2-1 in both games so far, and Sabah have favoured a 4-2-3-1 in eight of their ten matches.

Sabah: Ramazanov; Zedadka, Bulus, Solvet, Puchacz; Du Queiroz, Lepinjica; Parris, Rodrigo Fernandes, Carlos Eduardo; Mickels

Borussia Dortmund: Kobel; Anton, Schlotterbeck, Ryerson; Yamamoto, Nmecha, Sabitzer, Bensebaïni; Beier, Bellingham; Guirassy

The game kicks off at 17:45 BST on Tuesday 20 October at the Bank Respublika Arena. UK rights for the Champions League are held by TNT Sports, so the match is shown on TNT Sports where selected. This is a single league-phase game, so there is no extra time or penalty shoot-out. A draw means a point each.