Borussia Dortmund host Schalke 04 in the Revierderby on Saturday.
In the season before last, when Schalke were relegated for the first time since 1988, Dortmund scored seven goals past their fiercest rivals with no response, so the visitors will certainly be hoping to make amends this weekend.
Match preview
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While Dortmund fans will rightly be incredibly excited about the return of the Revierderby after a season without facing Schalke, Edin Terzic and his players will be aiming to treat it like any other game and pick up a crucial victory ahead of the international break.
It has not been the greatest week for BVB, who lost 3-0 to their former boss Marco Rose in his first game in charge of RB Leipzig last weekend, before their former star stiker Erling Braut Haaland's late volley saw Manchester City snatch a 2-1 win at Dortmund's expense in the Champions League on Wednesday.
After two difficult away trips, then, Terzic will be relieved to have a vociferous Westfalenstadion supporting his team again on Saturday. Dortmund have not conceded a goal to Schalke in any of their last four meetings, winning three of them, so he has high standards to uphold in one of the most important fixtures of the season for his side.
Having slipped to fifth in the table ahead of the weekend's fixtures, any damage from the defeat to Leipzig would be significantly mitigated by beating their rivals on Saturday, especially as it would ensure that - at worst - they will head into the international break level on points with reigning champions Bayern Munich.
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Schalke, meanwhile, finally secured their first victory since returning to the Bundesliga, with a vital 3-1 win against potential relegation rivals VfL Bochum.
Dominick Drexler's strike had provided the hosts with a half-time lead, before that was quickly wiped out after the break through the impressive Philipp Hofmann's equaliser. However, Erhan Masovic's unfortunate own goal proved to be crucial in the 73rd minute, before Sebastian Polter wrapped up Schalke's victory in injury time.
Excluding the dismal 6-1 defeat at home to current league leaders Union Berlin, Frank Kramer will likely be pleased with his side's start to the campaign, having drawn three of their other four matches. Their only other defeat came on the first day of the season, after Drexler's first-half dismissal away to FC Koln left them with a mountain to climb.
Having been competitive in the majority of their games, then, Kramer must ensure that continues away to Dortmund on Saturday. Having only taken over during the summer, the 50-year-old has a chance to make himself a hero by guiding his team to a shock victory, which would be their first in the Revierderby since April 2019.
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Team News
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Dortmund will remain without their first-choice goalkeeper Gregor Kobel due to a shoulder injury, meaning that Alexander Meyer will continue to deputise between the posts.
BVB welcomed Karim Adeyemi and Donyell Malen back to their squad for the trip to Manchester in midweek, with both appearing from the bench during the latter stages. Terzic may be tempted to throw at least one of them back into his starting XI having looked toothless without the duo against Leipzig, but the 39-year-old may resist given the forthcoming international break.
Nico Schlotterbeck, Marius Wolf and Julian Brandt may be reinstated to the side in order to freshen things up after a tiring display against the English champions, but Jamie Bynoe-Gittens, Mahmoud Dahoud, Sebastian Haller and Mateu Morey all join Kobel on the sidelines.
Schalke, meanwhile, are expected to travel without Cedric Brunner and Marcin Kaminski due to muscle strains.
Having named an attacking lineup for the win against Bochum, Kramer could restore Thomas Ouwejan and Rodrigo Zalazar to the team in order to beef up his defence and midfield areas, as Schalke will almost certainly be soaking up possession for most of the match.
Only backup goalkeeper Ralf Fahrmann has played in a Revierderby before, so a lack of experience in this environment could be a slight concern for the former Arminia Bielefeld boss.
Borussia Dortmund possible starting lineup:
Meyer; Wolf, Hummels, Schlotterbeck, Guerreiro; Bellingham, Ozcan; Reyna, Reus, Brandt; Modeste
Schalke 04 possible starting lineup:
Schwolow; Matriciani, van den Berg, Yoshida, Ouwejan; Flick, Krauss, Zalazar; Drexler, Terodde, Bulter
We say: Borussia Dortmund 2-0 Schalke 04
Although the visitors should be fresher having not played in midweek, we expect Dortmund to have too much class in the Revierderby on Saturday.
With Adeyemi and Malen back in the squad, Terzic has the ability to change things from the bench should things not be going his side's way, which is possible if Schalke's potentially defensive gameplan frustrates their rivals during the early stages.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Brett Curtis
