Borussia Dortmund vs Schalke Preview: Classic Encounter, Key Battle, Team News & More

The first Revierderby of the season is hosted by Borussia Dortmund on Saturday, with Peter Bosz's side sitting below local rivals Schalke in the Bundesliga table.

Defeat to Stuttgart last week, as well as losing against Tottenham in the Champions League in midweek, has left Dortmund's manager unsure over his future. 

However, over in Gelsenkirchen, Schalke's Italian-born manager Domenico Tedesco is flying high in his maiden season in Germany's top flight.

Here's everything you need to know about the Revierderby on Saturday.

Classic Encounter

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Despite their current joy over their local rivals, Schalke haven't beaten Borussia Dortmund in their last five attempts, with their last victory at the Westfallenstadion coming in 2012.

The last time the Royal Blues secured all three points at their neighbours' home stadium, Ibrahim Afellay put Schalke into a half-time lead. 

Current Köln midfielder Marco Höger doubled the visitors' lead just three minutes into the second half, putting Huub Stevens' side comfortably in the ascendancy.

Robert Lewandowski pulled one back for Dortmund with over 30 minutes to play. However, Schalke held out for the remainder of the match and went on to qualify for the Champions League at the end of the 2012/13.

Key Battle

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang vs Ralf Fährmann

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Prior to Dortmund's match with Tottenham in midweek, Gabonese striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang would have been the last Dortmund player to look out for on Saturday.

However, the 28-year-old ended a month-long goalscoring drought on Tuesday and Aubameyang could have found his knack of hitting the back of the net once again.

Additionally, there are only nine teams in Europe who have conceded more goals against Aubameyang than Schalke, the Royal Blues having seen the French-born forward score five in eight games against them.

However, Schalke captain Ralf Fährmann has kept four clean sheets against Dortmund in his career, a tally that the Germany international will be confident of increasing on Saturday.

Team News

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As if being ahead of your local rivals in the Bundesliga table wasn't good enough, hearing the words "he's fine" regarding the fitness of Leon Goretzka will give travelling Schalke fans a huge boost ahead of the Revierderby.

Potential Borussia Dortmund Lineup: Weidenfeller, Toljan, Bartra, Toprak, Schmelzer, Weigl, Götze, Castro, Yarmolenko, Philipp, Aubameyang.

Benjamin Stambouli also returned to first-team training this week, while Nabil Bentaleb (muscular) and Pablo Insua (inflammation) are Schalke's only absentees.

For the hosts on Saturday, there are fitness concerns over centre-back pairing Sokratis and Dan-Axel Zagadou. The former was substituted in Dortmund's defeat to Stuttgart last week, while Zagadou appears to have sustained a minor injury in midweek.

Long-term injuries to Lukasz Piszczek and Marco Reus keep Dortmund from reaching full strength anytime soon, while the club also confirmed that Jacob Bruun Larsen will be out of action until the New Year.

Potential Schalke 04 Lineup: Fährmann, Nastasic, Kehrer, Naldo, Caligiuri, Goretzka, Meyer, Oczipka, Embolo, Konoplyanka, Burgstaller.

Prediction

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After shock defeats to Hannover and Stuttgart in recent weeks, backing Borussia Dortmund to claim all three points (or just one for that matter) is becoming risky.

However, if there is one game that die Schwarzgelben should be able to get themselves motivated for, it is the Revierderby. 

Despite Schalke's impressive form this season, Dortmund should have enough to get all three points on Saturday and, in the process, prevent Peter Bosz from getting sacked.

Prediction: Borussia Dortmund 3-2 Schalke 04