For many years, playing against Hertha was a rather enjoyable experience for Borussia, who only lost at home to the men from the capital twice in the first 25 years both clubs were in the top flight. However, BVB have now been defeated in two of their last four clashes at the Strobelallee. We bring you the match facts, which you will find in compact and concise form below.

image

The scenario: Hertha have made their best start to a Bundesliga campaign in 46 years, winning four, drawing one and losing one to climb to second in the table. Borussia sit one place behind them, on 12 points, and are unbeaten in four competitive matches against the capital club (three wins, one draw), a streak in which they have only conceded once.

Home/away: Borussia have won 14 of their last 16 home games and have scored at least twice in each of their last eight matches at Signal Iduna Park. Hertha have won just one of their last eight on the road, a 2-0 victory over Ingolstadt on 10 September.

Personnel matters: A depleted BVB are without Piszczek, Sokratis, Subotic, Bender, Guerreiro, Durm, Castro, Ramos, Schürrle and Reus, while there are question marks surrounding Bartra's involvement. Hertha's injury absentees include Schieber, Lustenberger, Pekarik, Darida, Duda and Körber.

Head-to-head: BVB have the better record historically, having won 26 games, drawn 15 and suffered 17 defeats. They have been even more dominant on home turf, where they have only lost four – all by a 2-1 scoreline – and won 18, scoring 68 and conceding 29 in the process. Hertha won just one of their first 21 trips to Dortmund, but have emerged victorious on three of the last eight occasions. They have only kept a clean sheet in the city once, though: in a goalless draw in December 1969. Bayern and Bremen are the only other clubs whose goals tally against Hertha has reached triple figures. The men from Berlin have opened the scoring eight times in Dortmund, but went on to win just two of those games.

Statistics: Only Bayern (five victories) have won more often than Borussia (four). While BVB have the league's best attack with 16 goals scored, they have only kept a clean sheet in one of their last nine (the 6-0 victory over Darmstadt). They have lost none of the last 16 matches in which they have broken the deadlock, while Hertha have lost the last five in which they have conceded first. The capital club have kept a clean sheet on three of their six outings this season.  

image

The biggest win: On 19 October 1963, Borussia blew Hertha away with a 7-2 win in the Rote Erde Stadium. 28,000 spectators watched on as Rylewicz broke the deadlock in the 11th minute, scoring a penalty awarded for handball. Though Rühl briefly restored parity (21), the Black and Yellows hit back through Emmerich (22), Schmidt (29) and Konietzka (44) in the first half, before Sturm, Emmerich and Konietzka added to the tally after the interval.

Referee: Patrick Ittrich is overseeing his seventh Bundesliga match, and his first involving Borussia Dortmund. The 37-year-old, who hails from Hamburg, will be assisted on the sidelines by Norbert Grudzinski and Holger Henschel. Florian Badstübner is the fourth official.

Compiled by Boris Rupert