Borussia Dortmund versus Eintracht Frankfurt is a classic pairing in which goals are practically guaranteed (3.2 per game on average). Indeed, there has only ever been one 0-0 draw. Here we have compiled everything you need to know about the match into the usual compact format.

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Sokratis and Co. lost the reverse fixture 2-1.

The scenario: Borussia Dortmund go into Matchday 29 trailing third-placed TSG Hoffenheim by one point. Eintracht are in free fall, having dropped down from third to ninth after failing to win their last nine matches. Historically, the Black and Yellows have more victories over Frankfurt (41) than they do against any other team.

Home/away: BVB have won their last five Bundesliga home games and are now unbeaten in 34 matches at Signal Iduna Park. It is the longest home unbeaten run of any top-flight club in the last 30 years and was last surpassed by Werder Bremen, who went 43 home games unbeaten between August 1984 and February 1987. Frankfurt have lost their last four away outings but already have more points on the road this term (14) than they amassed in the whole of last season (12).

Personnel matters: Borussia will be without Bartra (suspended, hand operation), Durm (muscle injury), Götze (metabolic disorder), Schürrle (Achilles tendon) and Rode (muscular problems), while Eintracht are shorn of the services of Anderson (rehabilitation following knee operation), Regäsel (fitness following hip operation), Hasebe (knee operation), Medojevic (rehabilitation), Meier (heel problems) and Tawatha (ankle).

Head-to-head: The Black and Yellows have more victories (41), a better goal difference (+44) and more clean sheets (25) against Eintracht Frankfurt than they do against any other team. Of the 27 home games against the Eagles in which BVB have opened the scoring, they have won 25, drawn one and lost one. The team from Hessen have had seven red cards in matches in Dortmund, while only one BVB player has received his marching orders. Only against Bremen do Borussia have as many home wins as they do against Frankfurt (30). They have won each of the last five home games against Eintracht, scoring 16 and conceding just two in the process.

Statistics: In 2016/17 only two clubs have won more often and only two have lost more rarely than BVB, who have found the net at least once in each of their last 19 matches. Frankfurt have not won in their last nine, with the last victory coming when they beat Darmstadt 2-0 on 5 February. The last such winless run came under Armin Veh back in 2013. There have, however, been small signs of improvement: the Eagles have drawn three of their last four.

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Borussia have won their last five home games against Eintracht.

Biggest home win: The Black and Yellows have twice beaten Eintracht Frankfurt 6-0. The first time was on 26 November 1988 in front of a 22,507-strong crowd, courtesy of a Günter Breitzke hat-trick and goals from Michael Zorc, Norbert Dickel and Frank Pagelsdorf. The second came seven years later, on 23 March 1996, in front of a sell-out 42,400 crowd: Karlheinz Riedle (two), Michael Zorc, Steffen Freund, Jörg Heinrich and Stéphane Chapuisat got the goals – all in the first 65 minutes of the match.

Referee: 37-year-old business graduate Robert Hartmann, from Wangen im Allgäu, is taking charge of this one. He has previously overseen five Bundesliga matches involving BVB, including the 2-1 victory in Mainz and the 2-1 loss in Berlin earlier this season.

Attendance: Signal Iduna Park will be sold out with 81,360 fans – including 4,550 travelling Eintracht supporters – in attendance. (br)