Pressure on Dortmund in Ruhr Derby
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This season was set to be one full of joy for Borussia Dortmund and their fans.
The loss of Ousmane Dembele to Barcelona was always going to be tough to take but with several additions plus the fact Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang remained at the club gave great cause for optimism.
However, things have not panned out in the way the club had hoped this season and with twelve games played, Borussia Dortmund find themselves down in 5th place in the Bundesliga. This leaves them 9 points behind the leaders Bayern Munich and one place outside the Champions League qualifying positions.
Trends show Borussia Dortmund have won only one of their last nine matches in all competitions and that victory came away to Magdeburg in the German Cup.
Since defeating Augsburg 2-1 away from home in the Bundesliga on the 30th September, Borussia Dortmund have failed to register a win in their domestic league.
Peter Bosz’s team have lost each of their last three Bundesliga games, suffering defeats at Hannover 96 and Stuttgart plus a home loss to great rivals Bayern Munich.
The Dutch manager is under huge pressure and the fact both teams have scored in all six of Borussia Dortmund’s home league games, shows where improvements need to be made.
Schalke travel to Signal Iduna Park in a very confident mood having defeated Hamburg 2-0 at home last weekend. That victory was their fifth in their last six games in all competitions and leaves them sitting second in the Bundesliga at the start of the weekend.
Trends show Schalke are unbeaten in each of their last seven competitive games and have won their last 3 away matches in all competitions.
Not only have Schalke scored goals in each of their last six Bundesliga games they have also been doing well defensively, keeping four clean sheets in their last five league games. Their defence is sure to be put to the test in this match and they will hope to perform better than when they hosted Bayern Munich earlier in the season.
Team news and Borussia Dortmund are without the injured quartet of Erik Durm, Marco Reus, Sebastian Rode and Lukasz Piszczek. There are also doubts over defender Sokratis and goalkeeper Roman Burki, with Roman Weidenfeller standing by to play in place of the latter.
Schalke will be without Pablo Insua and Nabil Bentaleb who are both on the treatment table. Benjamin Stambouli is struggling for fitness and Schalke fans will be hoping midfielder Leon Goretzka is back to start in midfield.
Borussia Dortmund’s recent home form has been poor and they have also had troubles off the pitch with the recent suspension of star striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
Schalke on the other hand have been in great form and will see this match as the perfect opportunity to get one over on their rivals. The Schalke/draw double chance could be the way to go in this game, as the visitors will fancy their chances of at least taking a point.
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