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.