The 100th Bundesliga meeting between Borussia Dortmund and regional rivals Schalke 04 takes centre stage on Saturday evening, as they meet at the Veltins-Arena.
Continuing a conflict dating back to 1925, the latest Revierderby pits together a home side scrapping for survival with visitors who have ambitions of beating Bayern Munich to the title.
Match preview
© Reuters
One of the most keenly anticipated fixtures on the Bundesliga calendar, Schalke's rivalry with Dortmund stretches back through the decades, but of late the Gelesenkirchen club have endured a dismal losing streak against their old foes.
Having lost each of the last four Revierderbies - their worst such run since the 1960s - Schalke's most recent home game against BVB in February 2021 saw them beaten 4-0, which equalled the club's heaviest home defeat to Dortmund in the top flight. They were relegated a few months later.
Since a 4-2 away win in April 2019, Die Konigsblauen have actually gone goalless throughout five straight derbies, and closing in on 500 minutes without a scoring against Dortmund demonstrates the growing gap between the two teams.
Yet, under new coach Thomas Reis, Schalke join Saturday's opponents as the league's only unbeaten sides through the second half of the season so far - indeed, their streak is the club's best start to the 'Ruckrunde' since 2006.
With a 2-0 victory at Bochum last week helping them off the foot of the table for the first time since autumn, they sit 17th in the standings and are now level on points with 15th-placed Stuttgart, who they beat in a crucial relegation clash last month. As a result, they ended a wait of 76 Bundesliga fixtures without recording consecutive victories and doubled their win tally for the season.
Lying behind Schalke's transformation is a more miserly defence, as they have conceded just once in the second half of their Bundesliga campaign, having had the worst back line previously, shipping 41 goals during the first half.
© Reuters
Only 32 kilometres separate Saturday's contestants, with both situated in the Ruhr region, but the chasm which has opened up between them in recent years was never more clearly illustrated than by that 4-0 win for Dortmund two years ago.
That success still represents Edin Terzic's biggest Bundesliga away win, and he could now become the second BVB coach ever to win his first three Revierderbies in the league.
However, his hopes in that regard were not helped by events in midweek, when Die Schwarzgelben saw Julian Brandt limp off early in their 2-0 Champions League defeat to Chelsea, which consigned them to a 2-1 aggregate loss in the competition's last 16.
With dreams of European glory extinguished again, Dortmund resume domestic duty amid their best form of the season, and winning eight straight Bundesliga games for only the third time in club history has hauled them level on points with Bayern Munich at the top of the table.
Last week, they saw off potential title challengers RB Leipzig, thanks to first-half goals from Marco Reus and Emre Can, after they had won each of their last three away fixtures without conceding a single goal - a feat the club last managed back in 1999.
How the visitors respond to Tuesday night's setback, though, could decide whether they can add another derby-day triumph to an ever-lengthening list.
Team News
© Reuters
In addition to doubts about first-choice goalkeeper Gregor Kobel, who suffered a muscular injury just before Dortmund's win over Leipzig, BVB boss Edin Terzic must now deal with the absence of Julian Brandt.
The latter came off nursing his hamstring against Chelsea, so Gio Reyna and Jamie Bynoe-Gittens will be among those vying to replace him on Saturday.
Captain Marco Reus will start if he can shake off an illness, and the 33-year-old is seeking his 160th Dortmund goal in all competitions, to pull clear of Michael Zorc as the club's all-time record scorer. Reus has had a hand in at least one goal during each of his last three Bundesliga matches - two of his own and two assists.
Elsewhere, Julian Ryerson returns from suspension, but forward pair Karim Adeyemi and Youssoufa Moukoko remain sidelined by injury.
Schalke, meanwhile, still have a long list of men occupying the treatment room, as Dominick Drexler, Soichiro Kozuki and Danny Latza are all set to miss out; midfielder Eder Balanta could possibly join them.
January signing Moritz Jenz should once again partner Maya Yoshida at the heart of a much-improved defence, with left-back Thomas Ouwejan returning from a long layoff to offer Thomas Reis another option at left-back.
Should the hosts' head coach be forced to replace Balanta, that could be his only change to a winning side.
Schalke 04 possible starting lineup:
Fahrmann; Brunner, Yoshida, Jenz, Matriciani; Kral, Krauss; Zalazar, Bulter, Mohr; Frey
Borussia Dortmund possible starting lineup:
Meyer; Ryerson, Sule, Schlotterbeck, Guerreiro; Ozcan, Can, Bellingham; Reyna, Haller, Reus
We say: Schalke 04 1-2 Borussia Dortmund
While they have improved dramatically in recent weeks, Schalke's mettle will truly be tested by fired-up local rivals aiming for the title. Dortmund's disappointment at exiting Europe will quickly dim, and with so much at stake they can produce at least a couple of goals and another Revierderby victory.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
