Arguably the biggest derby in German football takes centre stage once again this weekend, as Borussia Dortmund travel across the region of Ruhr, to face Schalke 04.
In the early days of this famous derby, Schalke were dominant in every game. They record 17 wins and just 1 loss between 1925 and 1944, also beating their rivals 2-7 in Dortmund. Since then, these two sides have been all but inseparable. 27 wins for Dortmund, 21 draws and 25 wins for Schalke. These tight affairs have been all the more familiar at the home of Schalke; since 2009, Dortmund have come out victorious 2, the same for Schalke and there has been 1 draw.
It’s incredible to see a derby be so tightly contested over such a long period of time. In the 77 games between the two sides since the Bundesliga was formed, they have both won 28 times. I believe we can expect much the same of Saturday, when Schalke look to inflict a third consecutive Ruhr derby defeat on Dortmund. BVB themselves have been in great form recently and continued that on Tuesday in London, with an impressive 1-2 win over in-form Arsenal.
Schalke have been very inconsistent at the start of this season; an unconfident 2-3 victory over bottom of the table, Eintracht Braunschweig last weekend, was followed by a very poor 0-3 home loss on Tuesday to Chelsea. Surprisingly, Schalke still lie 5th in the Bundesliga, but incredibly, they are 8 points behind 3rd placed Bayer Leverkusen. Already we are seeing a gap between the 3 elite teams in the league this season, and the rest of the teams.
In team news, Schalke’s attacking midfielder Kevin-Prince Boateng (knee) is a doubt for the game, while striker Klass-Jan Huntelaar and midfielder Marco Hoger (both knee) are unavailable along with star winger Jefferson Farfan (groin). With the likes of Farfan and Huntelaar missing for Schalke, like on Tuesday, they will have a troubled time putting together forceful attacks against a strong Dortmund defence.
Jürgen Klopp will be hoping to atone for last year’s home and away losses to Schalke, which he said hurt him more than the Champions League and Bundesliga defeats to Bayern München.
Dortmund may be boosted by the return of midfield captain Sebastian Kehl, who is close to a return from a troubling foot injury. Ilkay Gündoğan and defender Lukas Piszczek remain to be out of this key fixture.
I’m predicting that Dortmund will make up for their recent poor form in this derby, by beating Schalke at the Veltins Arena. I’m also predicting that Schalke’s defence will be opened up once again on Saturday, with plenty of chances being created by the formidable Dortmund attack. Schalke 04 2-4 Borussia Dortmund is my prediction. Let me know yours?