The stage is set for the 136th edition of Der Klassiker. Which team is coming out on top on Saturday? We’ve got you set with our Borussia Dortmund vs. Bayern Munich preview.
By Zach Lowy
Can Bayern’s Stellar Form Continue?
On the 23rd October, Bayern Munich were subjected to a 4-1 defeat at Barcelona in the UEFA Champions League. It was the fourth time in five games that the Bavarians had failed to win and the second time in three that they’d conceded 3+ goals. After a perfect start to life under Vincent Kompany, it seemed that the wheels were falling off.
Since then, though, Bayern have won seven straight games, scoring 18 goals and conceding zero. They sit six points clear atop the Bundesliga and are scoring the most goals per game in Europe (3.24), and after edging Paris Saint-Germain in midweek, they are riding high on confidence.
However, they’ll have their hands full on Saturday as they take on a BVB side that have won four of their last five matches, the sole exception being a 3-1 defeat at Mainz which saw them reduced to 10 men in the 27th minute.
Jamie Gittens: The Man With a Plan
The last time that Borussia Dortmund faced Bayern Munich at Signal Iduna Park, Dayot Upamecano opened the scoring within four minutes while Harry Kane scored a hat-trick. All eyes will be on the reigning European Golden Boot winner as he looks to continue his scintillating form in Dortmund, but he’s not the only English forward who will have a key role to play.
Jamie Gittens kicked off the 2024/25 Bundesliga season by coming off the bench and scoring a brace in Borussia Dortmund’s 2-0 win vs. Eintracht Frankfurt, whilst he repeated that feat in their Champions League opener vs. Club Brugge. He hasn’t looked back since, establishing himself as a key figure in BVB’s attack with 11 goal contributions in 18 matches. Over the past week, he has scored a goal and an assist in a 4-0 win vs. Freiburg and opened the scoring in a 3-0 win vs. Dinamo Zagreb, and with Karim Adeyemi and (likely) Julian Brandt missing out, Nuri Şahin will be counting on him to deliver. After Jadon Sancho and Jude Bellingham before him, Gittens could very well be the next Englishman to explode onto the scene at Dortmund – and we’re backing the 20-year-old to come up clutch against eternal rivals Bayern.
Goals Galore in Dortmund
It remains to be seen whether or not Borussia Dortmund can pull off back-to-back wins vs. Bayern for the first time since the spring of 2012, but two things are fairly probable: this will be a high-scoring affair, and it will not be a draw. Out of Bayern and BVB’s last 18 matches, only one has ended in a draw. Things are looking up for Dortmund after a league-high six wins out of six, but as for Bayern, they have dropped points just once on the road – a 3-3 draw vs. Eintracht back in October.
Both teams will be missing key figures in midfield like Aleksandar Pavlović and Emre Can, and it could result in less controlled possession and more frantic attacking play. Nine of the last 10 meetings between these two sides have featured over 3.5 goals, whilst 13 of BVB’s last 15 fixtures have served up over 2.5 goals. With both of last season’s top two Bundesliga scorers – Kane and Serhou Guirassy – in fine form, all signs point to a high-scoring affair on Saturday.
(Cover image from IMAGO)
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