There's no other match which inspires the public imagination quite like Borussia Dortmund vs Bayern Munich. For the 31st consecutive year, the encounter between the two clubs at the Strobelallee is completely sold out. On Saturday evening (kick-off: 18.30 CET), Signal Iduna Park will be packed with 81,365 expectant fans, over 400 media outlets as well as prominent figures from the worlds of culture, politics and sport.

The scenario: Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich will face off against each other for the 99th time in Bundesliga history. This is the first time since April 2012 that BVB go into the fixture as league leaders. The last BVB win was in the 2017 DFB-Cup semi-final in Munich. The Black and Yellows have only come out on top in one of the last eight league matches, back in November 2016, also on Matchday 11.

Home and away: The Black and Yellows have won four of their last five home matches in the league. They've only failed to win one out of a total of eight home matches this season in all competitions: a 2-2 draw with Hertha. Bayern have won seven of their eight away matches this season in all competitions.

Personnel: Lucien Favre will give light on the personnel situation at a press conference scheduled for 13.00 CET (live on BVB TV). According to Kicker magazine, the visitors will travel to Dortmund without Coman (torn ligament), Thiago (torn outer band and capsule) and Tolisso (torn cruciate ligament). Robben's involvement is in doubt due to knee complaints.

Head-to-head record: Since November 2011, the two teams have played each other a total of 28 times in competitive matches (Bundesliga, DFB-Cup, Supercup, Champions League). The head-to-head to record within this time-frame reads as follows: 13 wins for Bayern, six draws and eight wins for BVB. Although the Bavarians have recorded almost twice as many Bundesliga wins (45) against Borussia as they have losses (24), BVB are still the team against whom they have their worst overall record. Of matches played in Dortmund, both teams have notched up 15 wins each (with 19 matches ending in a draw).

Statistics: For just the second time in club history, Borussia Dortmund are unbeaten in the Bundesliga after 10 matches. The only other time this occurred was back in 2002/03, when Borussia suffered their first defeat of the season away to Bayern Munich (2-1) on Matchday 12. Borussia have notched up more than 24 points at this stage of the season only twice before: in both the 2010/11 and 2013/14 seasons, Jürgen Klopp's BVB managed to register a total of 25 points after Matchday 10. The 30 goals scored so far this season after 10 matches is a new club record. Bayern have only scored 18 goals so far this season – the last time they scored so few at this point of the season was back in 2010/11.

Referee: The DFB will announce the match referee at midday on Thursday.

Spectators: SIGNAL IDUNA PARK is completely sold out, with a full capacity of 81,365.

Biggest home win: It dates back to 3 June 1967. Borussia came out 4-0 winners in the Rote Erde Stadium with goals from Lothar Emmerich and Reinhold Wosab.
Compiled by Boris Rupert