There is a full list of midweek fixtures in Germany’s Bundesliga this week, and Der Klassiker between Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich is undoubtedly the tie of the round.
This is always the biggest game in the Germany, but the result of Tuesday’s clash at Signal Iduna Park will carry extra importance.
A win for Bayern would extend their lead at the top to seven points, while victory for Dortmund would close the gap on the league leaders to just a single point.
Dortmund have returned from the break with a spring in their step. Lucien Favre’s men resumed with a 4-0 thrashing over rivals Schalke before beating Wolfsburg 2-0 last time out.
The two recent victories have extended Dortmund’s winning run to six games. In fact, no team in the Bundesliga has picked up more points than Favre’s side during that time.
It’s also worth pointing out that Dortmund have conceded just one goal throughout their six-game winning streak and have scored a whopping 15 goals in reply.
On the other hand, Bayern have also won their previous six league games. A 2-0 win against Union Berlin was followed by a 5-2 thumping of Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday.
Hansi Flick’s side have now scored 80 goals in 27 Bundesliga matches this season – a rate of just under three goals per game – and have only conceded 28.
Bayern completely dominated Frankfurt in their last out with five different players getting on the scoresheet. The reigning champions recorded 64% possession and 17 shots, although two quick-fire goals from Eintracht took the shine off the victory a little bit.
It’s safe to say that Bayern have enjoyed the better of the head-to-head record in this fixture over the years. The Bavarians smashed Dortmund 4-0 earlier in the season and have claimed a series of high-scoring victories over their title rivals in recent years.
However, with Dortmund in blistering home form – unbeaten in 20 in all competitions at Signal Iduna Park – and Bayern leaking goals at the back, Favre will be confident that his side can claim all three points this time around.
Dortmund will be boosted by the return of several key players on Tuesday. Jadon Sancho, Emre Can, and Giovanni Reyna all came off the bench against Wolfsburg, although Mats Hummels picked up an injury.
As for Bayern, Corentin Tolisso, Philippe Coutinho, and Niklas Sule are yet to feature following the break, and it’s unclear whether they’ll be fit to face Dortmund.
Both Dortmund and Bayern have been scoring goals for fun of late, but Dortmund’s defence has become a lot stronger recently. Both teams are likely to score here, but Favre’s men could easily outscore Bayern.
Forebet predicts a high-scoring game. It wouldn’t be a surprise if both teams scored over 1.5 goals each. However, Dortmund have enough firepower to claim the win and close the gap on their bitter rivals.