Borussia Dortmund vs Schalke 04 27/04/19

27 April 2019

The 153rd competitive Revierderby between Borussia Dortmund and Schalke 04 that takes place at the Signal Iduna Park this weekend sees two sides facing off against each other in quite contrasting circumstances.

While the hosts battle Bayern Munich for the Bundesliga title, the visitors have yet to secure their top-flight status as they currently sit six points clear of the relegation zone with four league fixtures left to go.

Lucien Favre’s men go into this clash off the back of back-to-back BL victories that have seen them score six goals and concede just one in the process. Sitting one point adrift of the Bavarians, Die Borussen can’t make a mistake here as they hope to replicate the same success from the reversed fixture when they’ve defeated Schalke 2-1 on the road. Notably, the Black and Yellows are the only team in the German top tier that has yet to lose at home in the Bundesliga this term (W13, D2), with Favre’s players scoring 2+ match goals in all 15 of their BL home outings so far – the league’s best record. A potential problem for the home fans could be that Dortmund have failed to preserve a clean slate in 12 of 15 BL home clashes, allowing at least one goal per match in 11 of 12 of their previous home games across all competitions.

Meanwhile, the visitors have struggled to wrap up all three points in all three of their previous BL fixtures (D1, L2), with all three of those meetings featuring goals on both ends. Although they are unbeaten in their last two BL away encounters (W1, D2), Huub Stevens’ players have secured just one point in four of their previous league road trips since the turn of the year, conceding 2+ match goals on each. Also, the Miners have failed to beat BVB in all five of their previous H2Hs at this venue (D3, L2), with Schalke allowing over 2.5 match goals on three occasions in that period. Additionally, the Royal Blues have yet to pick up a triumph against top-ten Bundesliga teams as all three of their league away wins have come against teams from the bottom half of the table.