Despite catching the eye with their attacking excellence, Al Hain-Cole expects Borussia's defensive strength to shine against Urs Fischer's men
Union Berlin will be hoping to pull off a famous cup upset when they take on high-flying Borussia Dortmund at the Westfalenstadion in Wednesday’s DFB Pokal clash.
Currently third in the 2. Bundesliga, Urs Fischer’s team have gone 12 matches without tasting defeat in all competitions so far this campaign.
However, they are hefty 11/1 (12.00) underdogs to come out on top against a team that are also unbeaten and sitting pretty at the top of the Bundesliga.
Dortmund saw a six-match winning streak halted by a 2-2 draw with Hertha Berlin on Saturday, but are priced at 2/11 (1.18) to bounce back with a victory against another side from the capital here.
Penalties were required to separate this pair when they last met in this competition two seasons ago, and there are odds of 23/4 (6.75) available on them playing out another draw in 90 minutes in this one.
Shinji Kagawa and top scorer Paco Alcacer could be in line for a return following injury lay-offs, although Manuel Akanji, Marcel Schmelzer, Thomas Delaney and Lukasz Piszczek are all sidelined.
Captain Felix Kroos - younger brother of Toni - has been ruled out for the guests after suffering and injury against Dynamo Dresden at the weekend, while Marc Torrejon is also not yet fully recovered from his own calf muscle issue.
Although mainly lauded for their attacking excellence this campaign, Lucien Favre’s team has also been solid at the back – with only RB Leipzig having conceded fewer than their 10 goals in nine league fixtures so far.
Meanwhile, Berlin have built their success so far this season on a defence that has let in just seven goals in 11 league matches, but struggled for cutting edge after scoring only 14 times in that run.
With just four of those goals having arrived in Union Berlin’s five away games, odds of 11/10 (2.10) offer solid value on Dortmund keeping their third clean sheet in four en route to victory.