Bundesliga is coming back, and we have a big derby in this weekend’s round. All the football lovers are desperate to see good action, and Ruhr Derby between Borussia Dortmund and Schalke 04 is no doubt going to bring some. This is an old rivalry between two sides who have long and wealthy history, but apart from that, have their plans coming up into this event. It guarantees excellent show at Signal-Iduna Park.
Preview
Borussia Dortmund
The Millionaires are second in the standings four points behind Bayern Munich, and according to all the experts are the only side capable of endangering the Bavarians. Dortmund is the best home team in German football, with nine wins and three draws over twelve games. In those matches, they scored 41 times, while conceding 12 goals, making them one of the most enjoyable teams to watch.
As you can see, they are relying upon heavy attack and are preferring to play high-scoring games. With Erling Haaland and Jadon Sancho upfront, this side can score three goals against any defense on the continent. In three of the past four home events, they’ve netted at least four times.
Witsel, Can, Reus, and Zagadou are definitely out, which is a big hit for the hosts. After all, these are all players from the starting lineup, who played a major role in the current championship.
Schalke 04
The Miners weren’t in good form once the league stopped, and we can say that it helped them end the negative streak. Back then, Schalke posted six matches in a row without a win, and in four of those contests, the team from Gelsenkirchen wasn’t able to score.
At one point, they were considered as a potential Champions League candidate, but all that disappeared now. It will be excellent for them to stay in place No.6, which leads to the Europe League and secures some international appearance. Schalke is a team with mediocre results on the road – four wins, draws, and losses.
Apart from Dennis Zakaria, the Miners don’t have problems with injuries and suspensions.
Head to Head
As we already said, this rivalry goes way back, and so far 155 official games between Borussia and Schalke happened. The Miners won 60, Dortmund 52, and 43 ended without a winner.
When talking about recent history, Schalke is better, losing just once in the last eight contests, and winning twice. Other games were draws, to be exact, five of them.
Prediction
Borussia comes into this event as the favorite, which they truly are, and we are strongly backing them up to win this Saturday. The odds are not bad looking at the overall situation, 0.51, particularly once we see how Millionaires play at their turf. We are aware that there won’t be any fans; however, we have to acknowledge the fact that Dortmund has a much better team in general and that they have several superstars who are capable of destroying Schalke’s mediocre defense.
During research needed to do the analysis of the game, we’ve mentioned that hosts play offensive football. It crossed our mind to propose one bet, which is risky, but pretty profitable. That is over 1.5 goals in the first halftime. Odds are at 1.36, and even though it could be a little aggressive having in mind that this is the first game following a long break, we still believe that it is worth trying. Hosts’ mentality couldn’t change during the pause.
