Prior Form Difficult To Predict
With these unprecedented circumstances, it’s difficult to know how well form prior to the break will translate into these matches.
Dortmund were on an impressive run of seven wins from their past eight matches, scoring at least three times in five of them, while they remain unbeaten on this turf since a 4-2 loss in this exact fixture last season.
They’ve never been far from the goals here, bagging a minimum of three in seven of their last eight at the Westfalenstadion, but without their diehard fans getting behind them we’re reluctant to plump for them to get back off to a flyer, though Schalke’s form doesn’t exactly instil confidence either.
Dortmund To Win
Die Knappen were on a run of W1-D6-L3, while away from home alone they were winless in six, scoring just twice in total across those road trips.
In fact, they’ve now gone 400 minutes away from home without finding the net, having last scored on the road back in mid-December.
Although they won’t have the Yellow Wall to contend with, they also won’t have the handful of their own fans that would push them on in this derby either, and the enforced break may have come at precisely the right moment for them.
Haaland To Score Anytime
Erling Haaland will likely return to the starting line-up, and we all know how much of a goal threat he can be, amassing nine already at an average of 57 minutes per goal in the league, while also adding a further two assists.
The Norwegian forms a formidable attack with another youngster in Jadon Sancho, who is currently joint-top for assists alongside Bayern’s Thomas Muller. Despite the long break, Dortmund’s main man up top has been known to hit the ground running and we’re happy to back him to find the net.
However, with injuries to Marco Reus, Axel Witsel and Emre Can in midfield, the supply line into the front two may be somewhat limited, so we’re not expecting a routing here by any means, especially as this derby tends to throw up surprising results.
Under 2.5 Goals
We’d still expect Lucien Favre’s side to come away with three points, considering they are very much still in with a shout of the title, while their rivals’ away form leaves much to be desired.
The ‘Unders’ market is another that looks to hold some considerable weight when factoring in the hosts’ midfield injuries, Schalke’s 2020 away goal drought and the fact that there will be no crowds roaring them on.
