Borussia Dortmund vs Schalke Predictions, Betting Tips, & Match Preview

Borussia Dortmund’s mid-week 1-1 draw at home to Union Berlin in the 2nd round of the DFB-Pokal, where they progressed through to the 3rd round on penalties, means the hosts come into this with just one competitive win in their last six matches. Dortmund are without a win in three in the Bundesliga and were caught off guard as last weekend’s trip to face the out-of-form Ingolstadt saw them forced to fight from 3-1 down to take away a point from the eventual 3-3 draw. Star striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang got himself on the score-sheet once again, taking his tally to 7 goals in eight matches – one in each of his last three. Aubameyang trails the Bundesliga’s leading goalscorer, Anthony Modeste of Cologne, by just one goal and his form would indicate that a bet on him to score anytime at 4/6 with bet365 would be reasonable.

Schalke 04 should finally feel their season is up and running after taking seven points from their last three Bundesliga matches. Alongside their two consecutive UEFA Europa League wins and their mid-week 3-2 win over Nurnberg in the 2nd round of the DFB-Pokal, Schalke are in top form, taking 5 wins and one draw from their last 6 competitive matches. Schalke were, of course, expected to start their Bundesliga campaign off much stronger after an impressive preseason and the signing of a handful of promising new players over the summer (see team news). A 4-0 win at home to Borussia M’gladbach followed by a 1-1 draw away to Augsburg and last Sunday’s 3-0 win at home to Mainz doesn’t make up for the five consecutive defeats over their opening fixtures, but it should help to put some faith back in coach Markus Weinzerl.

Borussia Dortmund come into the “Revierderby” at home to rivals Schalke as the bookies favourites at 8/15. However, we feel the visitors are the better bet here for a handful of reasons: at odds of 8/5 on draw of Schalke double chance, Schalke’s historical record away to Dortmund alone is enough to make this a profitable bet – Schalke have won or drawn in 24 of the 44 matches played in Dortmund (55%). Over the last three Bundesliga match-days, Schalke are the third most inform side (W2 D1) and they lead the charges with most goals scored over the same period (eight).

Meanwhile, Dortmund find themselves largely out-of-form and under pressure. Dortmund are at risk of going four games without a win for the first time under coach Thomas Tuchel – currently enduring a three-game winless streak for the second time under his leadership – and a 1-1 draw at home to second tier side Union Berlin and a 3-3 draw away to joint bottom side Ingolstadt are not particularly promising results from a side that should be challenging for the title.

Dortmund haven’t kept a clean sheet in 8 competitive fixtures and given Schalke’s 2.5 goal per game scoring average we expect them to take full advantage of this. Dortmund have, however, only failed to score at home in one of their last 25 home matches, so we’d expect them to also take away at least a goal here. Following these averages, we feel a correct score bet of 2-1 Schalke at 16/1 seems extremely reasonable value given the sides’ respective forms. Consequently, a bet of over 2.5 goals and both teams to score would also be a pretty decent shout at 10/11 with bet365.