Ruhr Derby: Borussia Dortmund vs Schalke 04 Preview, Odds and Prediction

The Bundesliga is back, and is there a better way to start it than with Ruhr Derby – Borussia Dortmund vs. Schalke 04. It is one of the biggest, if not the biggest rivalry in Germany, and even if it weren’t for the current situation, we would for sure cover this pretty intense matchup. The fans are craving for some good football, and this game will provide that have no doubt. Also, apart from this event, check out other fixtures we’ve covered.

Preview

Borussia (-200) is coming into this clash as a heavy favorite. They are chasing the title, and are close to Bayern Munich, but still, the Millionaires have multiple notable players ruled out for Saturday’s event. Witsel is out, same as Emre Can, and we might say that their midfield could be weakened. However, the attack is one of the best in Europe with Jadon Sancho and Erling Haaland. The two youngsters present the future of football, and are more than superb on the field against any opponent. Dortmund is the best team at home in Bundesliga, with nine wins and three draws in 12 games, and a goal difference of 41:10. So you can get the idea of what it is like to play against them at Signal-Iduna.

Schalke 04 (+500) is desperately trying to stay in the sixth position, which leads to the European competitions, which was the goal originally set before the season began. Bundesliga pause suited them very well, as they had six matches in a row without a win at the moment when everything went on hold. Furthermore, in four of them, they couldn’t score, and there were some pretty terrible losses at the time, such as a humiliation at home to Red Bull, 0-5. So far, in 12 games on the road, the Miners posted four wins, draws and loses each, with a slightly negative goal difference, 15:18.

Latest News

Emre Can and Witsel aren’t playing because of their respective injuries, and also because they had to go out of the quarantine area to visit doctors. In such cases, they aren’t able to play even if their health condition allows them. Zagadou, Reus and Nico Schulz are all out due to various injuries, while Marcel Schmelzer seems questionable.

Ozan Kabak and Omar Mascarell are ruled out for this game, in Schalke, same as Benjamin Stambouli.

Head to Head Games

Throughout history, we saw 155 Ruhr derbies. The Miners have 60 wins, eight more than the Millionaires. The other 43 matches ended without winners. The first leg of the campaign ended without goals in Gelsenkirchen, and at the moment Borussia has just one win over their rivals in the last eight events. Though five were draws during this span.

Prediction

Dortmund is the favorite and even though they have several players absent, they are still much better than the guests. After all, the Millionaires are the most dominant hosts in Bundesliga, which should be enough to back them in this event. Even though the odds on their win are low, we believe that there is no risk whatsoever. In order to increase it a little bit, we will add Borussia to win and Over 1.5 goals total. Moneyline here is -135.