Prediction: Borussia Dortmund vs Schalke 04

Verdict: Home win by two or more goals

Best odds: 1/1

Bookmaker: Betfair

With Schalke 04 back in the Bundesliga, it’s time for the first Revierderby of the season, set to be played on Saturday afternoon when Borussia Dortmund welcome Die Konigsblauen at the Signal Iduna Park. 

The rivalry between these clubs is well-known in the world of football and their matches are almost always fierce contests.

Borussia Dortmund

It’s been a period of mixed success for Edin Terzic’s side, these past few weeks, seeing them put in some good performances and win, put good performances but lose, and put in an absolutely awful performance and get thrashed by a team they probably expected to beat. So the question is, what will it be, come Saturday?

But let’s take it in a chronological order. Dortmund’s last six matches in all competitions saw them lose at home 2-3 to Werder Bremen, beat Hertha in Berlin 0-1, beat Hoffenheim 1-0 at home, smash FC Copenhagen in the Champions League opener by 3-0 at home, lose 3-0 away to RB Leipzig, and eventually lose 2-1 away to Manchester City.

Losing to Leipzig in such a convincing manner was surely a big disappointment. However, there no shame in suffering defeat at the hands of the Premier League champions in Manchester, especially with such a good outing as it was on Wednesday. It was Marco Reus’ fine cross and Jude Bellingham’s brilliant header that have the German side the lead at the Etihad, and it took a special strike from John Stones in the 80th minute to set the score back level. Eventually, it had to be Erling Haaland who rubbed it in with another fantastic goal for City to turn the game around four minutes later. If it’s any consolation to the German club and their supporters, the Norwegian striker took care not to show too much enthusiasm after hitting the back of their net.

Back in the Bundesliga, Dortmund are currently fifth with 12 points, but it isn’t saying too much given that Bayern Munich and Hoffenheim in third and fourth, respectively, are on the same tally, that Freiburg in second have 13, and Union Berlin at the top 14. In theory, Terzic’s side could be at the top of the table themselves at the end of this round. In theory, mind.

Team News

Alex Meyer is set to continue between the posts with first-choice goalkeeper Gregor Kobel still out with a shoulder injury. Forwards Karim Adeyemi and Donyell Malen returned to the fold for the Etihad clash, and having come off the bench in that match, the boss might opt to give at least one of them a start in the attacking line against Schalke.

Defender Mateu Moray (knee), midfielder Mahmoud Dahoud (shoulder), winger Jamie Bynoe-Gittens (shoulder) and striker Sebastien Haller (testicular cancer) remain out.

Schalke 04

The start of the season could’ve been better for Schalke after their return to the German top flight and many still see them as relegation candidates, but it could certainly have been worse. Of the six matches they’ve played so far, they won one, drew three and lost two.

They lost the opening day match away to FC Koln by 3-1, after midfielder Dominick Drexler earned a straight red card in the 35th minute. Then they drew 2-2 at home against Borussia Monchengladbach, drew 0-0 away to Wolfsburg, lost 1-6 at home to Union Berlin in the only truly disappointing match for them, drew 1-1 away to VfB Stuttgart, and finally achieved victory last week, 2-1 at home against VfL Bochum.

These results have Frank Kramer’s team in 12th place right now, with six points to their name. It’s the same tally as Augsburg in 13th and just one point more than the likes of Stuttgart, Hertha and Wolfsburg, with the latter currently occupying the spot leading to the relegation play-offs at the end of the season.

There’s a long way to go yet of course and all foretelling is vain at this point, but presuming Schalke’s primary concern this term is survival, the task doesn’t seem out of reach.

Team News

Defenders Cedric Brunner and Marcin Kaminski are expected to miss the Dortmund trip with muscle problems.

Kramer set his team up in a very attacking version of 4-2-3-1, but at the Signal Iduna Park, he’ll likely go for more legs in defence and midfield with his team not expected to see much possession. To that end, he could restore defender Thomas Ouwejan and midfielder Rodrigo Zalazar to the starting XI.

Conclusion

A derby such as this one is always expected to be an exciting affair. Dortmund boss Terzic welcomed its return to his team’s schedule this season, clearly happy about Schalke returning to the Bundesliga exactly for that reason.

However, Schalke go to Dortmund with practically nothing but bragging rights to lose. Not that it would be unheard of, but very few newly promoted sides go there and return with something. Dortmund are obviously the clear favourites, and if they need any motivation further than their fierce rival lining up against them, they’ll surely be looking to bounce back after the Leipzig disappointment last week.

Verdict: Home win by two or more goals

Best odds: 1/1

Bookmaker: Betfair