Dortmund – Schalke

It’s time for the big Revierderby of the German Bundesliga once again. Borussia Dortmund are hosting their regional rival Schalke 04 in the so called “Ruhr derby”. This rivalry usually offer to us exciting and high-scoring games, so we hope that this time it will be the same, too.

Borussia Dortmund are labeled as the biggest contender for Bayern Munich’s crown in the Bundesliga, but they are not very convincing in the last few weeks. Dortmund didn’t win neither one of their last three games, which was the reason why they are six points behind the leader and reigning champion Bayern.

Schalke’s performance since the start of the new campaign is even worse. The Royal Blues were recently in the relegation zone of the German league, but they managed to escape after winning two of their last three games. They still remain alongside the last five teams in the table, though.

There are some good news for Dortmund’s manager Thomas Tuchel. Andre Schurrle and Raphael Guerreiro are back in training with the team, but Marco Reus remains sidelined with a groin injury.  Emre Mor is suspended for the derby while Dortmund’s leading goalscorer Pierre Emerick Aubameyang is doubtful for the game with a calf injury. Sven Bender and Marcel Schmelzer’s participation in the game is also doubtful.

Schalke welcomes back Atsuto Uchida, who is ready to play, but Sidney Sam, Franco Di Santo, Sead Kolasinac and Donis Avdijaj remain doubtful for the Revierderby.

Last season Borussia Dortmund managed to win the Revierderby at home, while the game at VELTINS-Arena finished with a high-scoring draw – 2-2. In both games there were totally nine goals scored, which proves that these two teams just love to score against each other. We shall see if a similar thing will happen this weekend as well.