Borussia Dortmund vs Schalke 04 prediciton, odds and preview

Dortmund will undoubtedly be trying to make up for the seven goals they scored past their fiercest rivals the season before last, when Schalke were demoted for the first time since 1988.

While Edin Terzic and his team will be trying to treat it like any other game and pick up a critical victory before the international break, Dortmund fans will be understandably ecstatic about the return of the Revierderby after a season without seeing Schalke.

It has not been a great week for BVB, who last weekend lost 3-0 to their former manager Marco Rose in his debut game in charge of RB Leipzig before falling 2-1 to Manchester City in the dying minutes.

Terzic will be happy to have a boisterous Westfalenstadion behind his team once more on Saturday after two trying away trips. Dortmund hasn’t given up a goal in any of their last four meetings with Schalke, winning three of them, so he has high expectations to live up to in one of his team’s most crucial games of the season.

The damage from the loss to Leipzig, which saw them drop to fifth place in the standings heading into the weekend’s games, would be greatly reduced if they could defeat their rivals on Saturday. This is especially true given that it would guarantee that, at the very least, they would enter the international break level on points with defending champions Bayern Munich.

Schalke, meanwhile, beat probable relegation rivals VfL Bochum 3-1 to earn their first victory since rejoining the Bundesliga.

Dominick Drexler’s goal gave the home team the lead before the half, but Philipp Hofmann’s superb equalizer swiftly erased that advantage after the break. But in the 73rd minute, an unfortunate own goal by Erhan Masovic proved to be pivotal, and Sebastian Polter sealed the victory for Schalke in stoppage time.

Frank Kramer will probably be satisfied with his team’s start to the season, barring the appalling 6-1 loss at home to the current league leaders Union Berlin, since they have drew three of their other four games. On the opening day of the season, they only suffered one additional loss, away at FC Koln.

Kramer must make sure that their Saturday matchup against Dortmund is competitive because they have been in most of their games. The 50-year-old, who only assumed leadership during the summer, has the opportunity to become a hero by leading his club to a surprise victory, which would be their first in the Revierderby since April 2019.