Saturday’s Revierderby between Dortmund and Schalke promises to be an important one in the context of the Bundesliga season.
BVB trail Bayern Munich by a point at the head of the standings, having led the table at Christmas, but after losing to FCB have picked up successive victories.
Their neighbours, meanwhile, are one place above the relegation spots, and though six points clear of Stuttgart in 16th, still have some work to do in order to ensure they are still playing top-flight football next season.
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| Game | Borussia Dortmund vs Schalke |
| Date | Saturday, April 26 |
| Time | 2:30pm BST / 9:30pm EST |
| Stream (US) | fubo TV (7-day free trial) |
TV Channel, Live Stream & How To Watch
In the United States (US), the game can be watched live and on-demand with fuboTV (7-day free trial).
New users can sign up for a free seven-day trial of the live sports streaming service, which can be accessed via iOS, Android, Chromecast, Amazon Fire TV, Roku and Apple TV as well as on a web browser.
| US TV channel | Online stream |
|---|---|
| FOX Sports 2 / Univision Deportes | fubo TV (7-day free trial) |
In the United Kingdom (UK), the game will not be available either via TV or a live stream.
| UK TV channel | Online stream |
|---|---|
| N/A | N/A |
Squads & Team News
| Position | Borussia Dortmund players |
|---|---|
| Goalkeepers | Burki, Hitz, Oelschlagel |
| Defenders | Piszczek, Akanji, Zagadou, Toprak, Diallo, Balerdi, Schmelzer |
| Midfielders | Witsel, Delaney, Reus, Guerreiro, Dahoud, Weigl, Delaney, Gotze, Gomez |
| Forwards | Bruun Larsen, Alcacer, Philipp, Sancho, Wolf |
Dortmund are still without full-backs Achraf Hakimi and Lukasz Piszczek, while they have suffered a further defensive blow as Dan-Axel Zagadou will not be ready for action.
Marius Wolf, who has featured as a makeshift right-back lately, is a doubt.
Possible Dortmund starting XI: Burki; Wolf, Weigl, Akanji, Diallo; Delaney, Witsel; Sancho, Reus, Guerreiro; Gotze
| Position | Schalke players |
|---|---|
| Goalkeepers | Fahrmann, Nubel, Langer |
| Defenders | Nastasic, Sane, Stambouli, Bruma, Mendyl, Oczipka, Carls |
| Midfielders | Rudy, Mascarell, McKennie, Serdar, Boujellab, Caligiuri, Harit |
| Forwards | Matondo, Goller, Embolo, Burgstaller, Kutucu, Teuchert, Wright |
Schalke have had a traumatic week, with Nabil Bentaleb consigned to the Under-23 squad for disciplinary reasons.
Alessandro Schopft and Yevhen Konoplyanka are also missing in the midfield.
Elsewhere, defender Sascha Riether is sidelined along with attackers Mark Uth and Steven Skrzybksi.
Possible Schalke starting XI: Nubel; Stambouli, Sane, Nastasic; Caligiuri, McKennie, Mascarell, Carls; Burgstaller, Embolo
Betting & Match Odds
Dortmund are red-hot favourites at Bet365, who price them at 3/10 to win. Schalke can be backed at 9/1 while the draw is available at 9/2.
Click here to see all of bet 365’s offers for the game, including goalscoring markets, correct score predictions and more.
Match Preview
When Borussia Dortmund were thumped 5-0 by Bayern Munich at the beginning of the month, it seemed that their Bundesliga title hopes had been extinguished. Their momentum had faded since Christmas and was obliterated in a one-sided game against the league’s established giants.
Lucien Favre’s side have since responded well, keeping the pressure on FCB by overcoming Mainz 2-1 at home then last weekend against Freiburg, who were demolished 4-0.
Marco Reus was among the scorers in last weekend’s match and has urged his side to keep believing that there may be silverware ahead for them, with just four games left in the season.
“We need to focus on our performance – which hasn’t been at the level we’ve hoped for in the past few weeks. It’s important that we stick together in the difficult moments and continue to believe that we can become champions,” he told the club’s official website.
“We want to keep up the pressure on Bayern until the end.”
Now the Germany star wants a big performance in the derby.
“It won’t be an ordinary game, we know that, but we’re playing at home, our confidence is high and we want to stay in the running,” he added.
“We have now regained confidence. We want to stay up there and must walk all over Schalke.”
BVB’s Ruhr rivals have toiled all season, with Schalke’s defence especially suspect throughout the campaign. Last weekend, they were crushed 5-2 by Hoffenheim, while they have conceded 52 goals in just 30 matches.
With an attack that has not reached its potential, Schalke find themselves hovering just above the relegation places, and while they have probably done enough to avoid the drop, they must make absolutely certain.
Head coach Huub Stevens, who took charge of the club for a third time in March to steer them up the table, a task he has been thus far unsuccessful in doing, has said that he believes this will be his final derby.
It is a fixture that he confronts in difficult circumstances, having hinted at discord within the squad on Friday and 48 hours earlier consigned Nabil Bentaleb to the Under-23 side.
“There are different kinds of problems at Schalke but I can’t say much about this,” he said. “I asked others about my decision with Bentaleb and I couldn’t do anything else in the situation. It’s a team sport and not everything revolves around one player.”
The man who led Schalke to the 1996-97 UEFA Cup and two DFB Pokal titles will be eager to go out with a bang but in the circumstances it would be remarkable if he did.