The first Revierderby of the season will commence on Saturday as Bundesliga giants Borussia Dortmund and FC Schalke collide on the Signal Iduna Park. Famously known for its intensity and passion, the rivalry between the two teams is huge in the Ruhr district and the Ruhr derby is probably the biggest derby in Germany.
Strangely, this is the first time this fixture has been played on a Saturday evening since the introduction of this kick-off time in 2009/10, Nonetheless. This will be the 171st Ruhr Derby between the two sides, Schalke holding the upper hand with 67 wins to Dortmund’s 60 with 43 ending as a draw. But Dortmund are unbeaten in last three of their games against Schalke – their last defeat in this fixture came over two years ago. (2:1 in Gelsenkirchen on match day six, 2014/15 season).
Borussia Dortmund, however, are not in very good shape right now as they are winless for over a month. Their last win came in 24th of September, in a 3:1 home victory over SC Freiburg. After that, the Black and Yellows tasted a defeat against struggling Bayer Leverkusen and drew two consecutive matches against Hertha and FC Ingolstadt respectively.
Thomas Tuchel’s side have been facing many problems this seasons. His side have conceded sloppy goals, especially in away games, which cost them dearly at the end. Besides, the injury crisis has been a key reason over their dismal start to the season. Die Borussen are missing a long list of players due to injury. Defenders Sven Bender, Neven Subotic and Erik Durm are all said to be back in development training yet far away from full fitness.
Meanwhile, club captain Marco Reus has been also ruled out for the Revierderby as he is ‘weeks, at least weeks’ away from regaining full fitness per Tuchel. Reus joins the list along with Andre Schurrle, Raphael Guerreiro and Marcel Schmelzer on the list of those unavailable.
While Christian Pulisic and Ousmane Dembele have caught a bug, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has picked up a few knocks and bruises in the game against Ingolstadt last week. The fact that Dortmund have been the most fouled team (fouled 153 times) in the Bundesliga so far, is enough to explain their point of having so many players injured.
Dortmund are unbeaten in 25 home Bundesliga matches (W21, D4) – a new club record. Their last Bundesliga defeat at Signal Iduna Park came in April 2015 (1-0 vs. Bayern). Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has scored seven goals in as many Bundesliga appearances this campaign – only one player has more. However, he is yet to provide an assist. The Gabonese International has also been voted as a nominee for the prestigious Ballon D’Or award for 2016 recently.
Schalke on the flip side, have also undergone a few changes over the summer with a new coach and a new marketing director. The Royal Blues opened the season with five consecutive defeats under new coach Markus Weinzierl but is back on track as they have clinched seven points in their last three top flight games.
Nabil Bentaleb became the first Algerian to score a brace in the Bundesliga last time out. He also scored on match day seven vs. FC Augsburg, meaning he is Schalke’s top scorer currently (3).
Even though, Die Knappen are not experiencing a long injury list as Dortmund but their new signings Coke and Breel Embolo are out with long term injuries. 27-million-euro record signing Breel Embolo has been ruled out for the rest of the year due to broken ankle.
Good thing for Schalke is, BVB have lost two primetime games already this season (1-0 vs. Leipzig, 2-0 in Leverkusen) but Schalke have lost six of their last seven matches in the slot (plus a 1-0 win in Hamburg on match day seven last season).
This will be Markus Weinzierl’s first Ruhr derby. His last trip to Dortmund saw one of his sides concede over four goals in a Bundesliga game for the first time ever (5-1 defeat with Augsburg on match day 10 of 2015/16) but with a completely new team and strong team, the 41-year-old will be eager to impress his new club with a win over struggling Dortmund!
[P.S – All stats are thanks to fourfourtwo.com]
