Bundesliga
Derby time: Black & Yellows to visit Royal Blues
The first highlight of the season comes on Saturday as Borussia Dortmund visit FC Schalke 04. Below we preview the derby with the help of some facts.
The scenario
- Prior to the derby on Matchday 31 of the 2018/19 season, the gap between Borussia Dortmund and FC Schalke 04 in the table was larger than ever before (42 points). This time, there is only one point separating the teams.
- BVB have the slightly superior head-to-head record in the derby: the Black & Yellows have won 33 times, the Royal Blues 32 times and there have been 29 draws.
- The home team has won only one of their previous seven derbies – Schalke by a 2-0 scoreline in April 2018. Borussia Dortmund won their last trip to S04 2-1.
- Dortmund have scored on 12 of their last 13 visits to Gelsenkirchen.
- Schalke's pass completion rate of 80% is below the league average (83%). Dortmund's rate of 89% is the second-best in the division behind Bayern (90%).
Schalke 04
- The Royal Blues already have 14 points – more than double what they had at the same stage last season (six).
- Schalke have lost only one of their last six Bundesliga home games, with that defeat coming as they were beaten 3-0 by Bayern Munich on 24 August 2019.
- S04 scored almost three times as many goals in the first eight rounds (14) as they did in that period last term (five).
- Only Paderborn (222) and Wolfsburg (221) have made more tackles per game than S04 (219).
Borussia Dortmund
- BVB have lost only one of their past 11 Bundesliga matches – a 3-1 defeat at Union Berlin on 31 August 2019.
- Additionally, the Black & Yellows have lost only one of their last seven Bundesliga away fixtures (see above).
- Dortmund have the second-best attacking record in the league, with their 20 goals scored by eight different players.