Saturday is derby time! Borussia Dortmund will take on FC Schalke 04 in a competitive meeting for the 157th time. Here are the match facts.

The scenario: Third vs. 17th. Borussia have won three of their last four league games, while Schalke recently picked up their first point of the season in a 1-1 draw with Union Berlin. But like the cup, you can never predict what will happen in a derby...

Home/away: BVB have won their previous home games against Gladbach (3-0) and Freiburg (4-0). Schalke lost their away matches in Munich (8-0) and Leipzig (4-0), and are currently on a 13-match winless run away from home that dates back to November 2019.

Personnel matters: Thorgan Hazard and Nico Schulz are back in training and in contention for the squad. Marcel Schmelzer and Dan-Axel Zagadou are the only remaining injury absentees. Schalke are missing Kabak and Serdar.

Head-to-head record: Thanks to the Gauliga era, the Royal Blues still have their noses narrowly in front in this fixture (W60 D43 L53). Borussia Dortmund have lost only two of the last 11 derbies. During that time there have been four wins – including a 4-0 in the last meeting on 16 May – and five draws. Schalke have given away more penalties against BVB than any other club (14) and have thrown away a lead in Dortmund 11 times. The derby has ended 0-0 11 times – no other Bundesliga pairing has produced more goalless draws.

Statistics: No club has racked up more wins (three victories from four games) and conceded fewer goals than Borussia Dortmund (two). The Black & Yellows have kept three clean sheets – the highest number in the division. Including last season, Schalke are winless in 20 games. Their last victory was a 2-0 against Mönchengladbach on 17 January 2020. The last away triumph was a 2-1 in Bremen on 23 November 2019. Since then, the Royal Blues have failed to win any of their 13 away matches and have lost the last four on the road. Their last clean sheet was in a 0-0 draw in Mainz on 16 February 2020. This season they have the worst defensive record in the division (16 goals conceded).

Biggest home win: The Black & Yellows thrashed their Ruhr rivals 7-0 in front of 30,000 fans at Stadion Rote Erde on Matchday 23 of the 1965/66 season. Siggi Held (2), Aki Schmidt (2), Willi Sturm, Hoppy Kurrat and Lothar Emmerich were the scorers in that game on 26 February 1966.
Compiled by Boris Rupert