THE Bundesliga resumes this weekend with a blockbuster battle as title-chasing Borussia Dortmund square off with fierce rivals Schalke in the Revierderby on Saturday afternoon.
Lucien Favre's vibrant young side made a stunning start to the second-half of the season by smashing in 27 goals across their eight league outings upon their return from the winter shutdown.
Indeed, Die Schwarzgelben trail Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich by four points, however, a Dortmund win on Saturday afternoon would reduce the arrears to a solitary point – at least temporarily.
Standing in BVB's way are old foes Schalke 04 who have stuttered and struggled for results since the turn of the year and currently occupy sixth-place in the German top tier.
The Royal Blues made a promising start to the season under the stewardship of former Huddersfield Town manager David Wagner, however, the Gelsenkirchen outfit are in the midst of a miserable run of form that has seen them fail to win any of their last six league matches.
What's more, Schalke have only managed to score twice in the aforementioned stretch of games, however, the visitors will take confidence from the fact that this derby will not be contested in front of the world-renowned Yellow Wall.
The Betting Odds
Dortmund are the only side in the division who have an unbeaten home record this term and Borussia are big favourites at 8/13 with SportNation to bag all three points.
The reverse fixture ended in a goalless draw and a share of the spoils on Saturday afternoon pays 3/1 with Unibet.
Schalke have not tasted defeat in their last three visits to this venue, however, Wagner's men are big underdogs at 24/5 with Unibet.
The Betting Angles
Borussia Dortmund made some eye-catching signings during the January transfer window, none more so than Norwegian goal-machine Erling Haaland who has weighed in with 12 goals in 11 appearances across all competitions to date.
The Scandinavian sensation will tempt plenty of punters at 14/5 with Betway to open the scoring, however, I'm more attracted to the 5/6 (Ladbrokes) on offer for Haaland to hit the back of the net at anytime.
Seven of Haaland's 12 strikes have come on home turf and the Norwegian wonderkid could be worth a small wager this weekend to make the net bulge against a Schalke side who were out of sorts before the Bundesliga came to a halt.
Whether or not Haaland adds to his impressive goal haul remains to be seen, however, Schalke could be hard tasked when trying to contain Die Schwarzgelben given the fluency that free-scoring Dortmund were playing with in the early months of 2020.
Two or more Dortmund goals looks a bit skinny at 8/15 with Bet 365, however, an alternative that I like the look of is to combine over zero Dortmund goals, over three Dortmund corners and Schalke to collect over one card which pays 4/5 with Bet 365.
BVB home games have generated an average of 4.25 goals per-game this season and the German giants were averaging 6.02 corners per-game prior to the enforced break – the highest in the division.
What's more, Wagner will more than likely set out to frustrate Dortmund and I suspect the hosts will try and use their width to breakthrough the Royal Blues rigid rearguard – and that in turn could see Borussia rack up some corner kicks.
Furthermore, adding a couple of Schalke cards adds to the appeal of backing the aforementioned combination given that this fixture is notorious for being a fiery affair,
With the form book out the window punters may have to dig deep to try and source some value from this showdown and along with the aforementioned tips I'm going to throw in another Bet Builder for consideration.
Combining Dortmund on the double chance alongside over three match corners, over zero Dortmund cards and over one Schalke card appeals at 4/5 with Bet 365 for reasons already outlined above.
Predicted Line-up
Dortmund: Bürki – Piszczek (c), Hummels, Akanji – Hakimi, Brandt, Delaney, Guerreiro – Sancho, Haaland, Hazard
Out: Can (muscular), Reus (thigh), Schulz (muscular), Witsel (groin), Zagadou (knee)
Doubtful: Schmelzer (muscular)
Coach: Lucien Favre
Schalke: Schubert – Kenny, Todibo, Nastasic, Oczipka (c) – Caligiuri, McKennie, Serdar – Harit – Burgstaller, Raman
Out: Kabak (back), Mascarell (groin), Stambouli (match fitness)
Coach: David Wagner
This German Bundesliga match between Borussia Dortmund and Schalke 04 will be played on May 16, 2020 and kick off at 14:30. Check below for our tipsters best Borussia Dortmund vs Schalke 04 prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
