The 136th instalment of Der Klassiker will take centre stage at Westfalenstadion on Saturday evening as Borussia Dortmund play host to Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich.
This weekend's showdown will see a Dortmund side with the strongest home record so far this season (W6 D0 L0) take on a Bayern outfit with the best away record (W5 D1 L0).
Match preview
Following a disappointing run of four defeats in five matches across all competitions, Borussia Dortmund have since turned a corner under Nuri Sahin, who has steered his side to four wins in their last five games, with 11 goals scored and just two conceded in the process.
A comfortable 4-0 home victory over Freiburg in the Bundesliga last weekend was followed by a 3-0 win away against Dinamo Zagreb in the Champions League on Wednesday night, courtesy of a stunning opener from Jamie Bynoe-Gittens and two strikes from Ramy Bensebaini and Serhou Guirassy.
BVB have climbed up to fourth in the 36-team UCL table and remain on course to secure an automatic place in the last 16, while they sit fifth in the Bundesliga standings after 11 matches, just one point behind the top four but 10 adrift of league leaders and Saturday's opponents Bayern.
Dortmund will welcome a return to Westfalenstadion, as they have not lost at home since early April (W12 D1) and have won each of their opening eight home games in all competitions this season. BVB are now bidding to start a campaign with nine straight home victories for the first time in professional football.
The Yellow-Blacks have already beaten third-placed RB Leipzig and second-placed Eintracht Frankfurt on home soil this term, but they are now preparing for their biggest test yet against an in-form Bayern outfit whom they have suffered more defeats against than any other opponent (67). Bayern, however, have also recorded more losses against BVB (33) than versus any other side.
Bayern Munich travel to North Rhine-Westphalia boasting an impressive seven-match winning run in all competitions, scoring a total of 18 goals and keeping seven clean sheets in the process, going over 700 minutes without conceding a goal.
Vincent Kompany's side, who were lacking consistency earlier this season, are now a real force to be reckoned with, and they followed up a 3-0 Bundesliga victory at home to Augsburg last weekend with a slender yet dominant 1-0 win over 10-man Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League on Tuesday, thanks to a first-half header from Kim Min-jae.
Victory over PSG has boosted their hoped of securing a last-16 spot in the Champions League, as they have moved up to 13th in the 36-team table and are just a point behind the top eight with three games remaining. Bayern's focus now shifts back to the Bundesliga where they are six points clear at the summit, at the time of writing.
Kompany has collected a superb 29 points in his first 11 Bundesliga matches (W9 D2) as head coach of Bayern, equalling the division's record previously achieved by Pep Guardiola when he was in charge of the Bavarian giants in 2012-13, and ex-Frankfurt boss Klaus Toppmoller back in 1993-94.
Bayern will fancy their chances of further success on Saturday, as they have not lost to Dortmund at Westfalenstadion since November 2018, winning four and drawing one of their last five visits including a thumping 4-0 victory in November last year.
Team News
Borussia Dortmund will be without captain Emre Can as he will serve the second of a two-match ban this weekend, while Karim Adeyemi is set to remain sidelined with a hamstring injury.
Julian Brandt was forced off at half time against Zagreb in midweek with a muscle problem and has emerged as a doubt, but defender Niklas Sule has recovered from an ankle issue that has kept him sidelined for over a month and is in contention to feature.
Striker Serhou Guirassy, who has scored 49 Bundesliga goals in his career, will be hoping to force his way back into the first XI at the expense of Maximilian Beier, while Julian Ryerson is set to be recalled at right-back which would allow Pascal Gross to move back into midfield.
As for Bayern Munich, they will have to cope without Joao Palhinha (groin), Hiroki Ito (broken foot), Josip Stanisic (knee) and Sven Ulreich (personal reasons).
Aleksandar Pavlovic is back in training after recovering from a shoulder operation, but he is unlikely to be involved this weekend, so Leon Goretzka is set to start again in centre-midfield alongside Joshua Kimmich.
Either Konrad Laimer or Raphael Guerreiro could be deployed at right-back, while Michael Olise could take the place of Leroy Sane on the right flank and join Jamal Musiala, Kingsley Coman and Harry Kane in attack, the latter of whom became the fastest Bundesliga player to reach 50 goals last weekend.
Borussia Dortmund possible starting lineup:
Kobel; Ryerson, Anton, Schlotterbeck, Bensebaini; Nmecha, Gross; Beier, Sabitzer, Gittens; Guirassy
Bayern Munich possible starting lineup:
Neuer; Guerreiro, Upamecano, Kim, Davies; Kimmich, Goretzka; Olise, Musiala, Coman; Kane
We say: Borussia Dortmund 1-3 Bayern Munich
Bayern have been unstoppable and impenetrable in recent weeks, and they will be regarded as firm favourites to come out on top this weekend, even with Dortmund having turned their fortunes around in recent weeks.
The Bavarian visitors have only failed to score three or more goals in one of their six away league games so far this season, and we can envisage Kompany's side having more joy in front of goals against a Dortmund side who have conceded in 11 of their 17 matches in all competitions this term and at least twice on six occasions.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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