BVB Buzz
Fansided

Schalke 04 vs Borussia Dortmund: preview, key players, team news, prediction

By Brian Szlenk Straub

DORTMUND, GERMANY - DECEMBER 01: Marco Reus of Dortmund celebrates after scoring his team's first goal with team mates during the Bundesliga match between Borussia Dortmund and Sport-Club Freiburg at Signal Iduna Park on December 01, 2018 in Dortmund, Germany. (Photo by TF-Images/Getty Images)
DORTMUND, GERMANY - DECEMBER 01: Marco Reus of Dortmund celebrates after scoring his team's first goal with team mates during the Bundesliga match between Borussia Dortmund and Sport-Club Freiburg at Signal Iduna Park on December 01, 2018 in Dortmund, Germany. (Photo by TF-Images/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
2 of 3
Next
DORTMUND, GERMANY – AUGUST 26: Marco Reus of Borussia Dortmund celebrates after scoring his team`s fourth goal with Axel Witsel of Borussia Dortmund during the Bundesliga match between Borussia Dortmund and RB Leipzig at Signal Iduna Park on August 26, 2018 in Dortmund, Germany. (Photo by TF-Images/Getty Images)
DORTMUND, GERMANY – AUGUST 26: Marco Reus of Borussia Dortmund celebrates after scoring his team`s fourth goal with Axel Witsel of Borussia Dortmund during the Bundesliga match between Borussia Dortmund and RB Leipzig at Signal Iduna Park on August 26, 2018 in Dortmund, Germany. (Photo by TF-Images/Getty Images) /

Key players

Borussia Dortmund’s key players will most certainly be the players they have relied on all season to get this far. For one, I’m certain Axel Witsel will play an important role in distributing play, and he’s been terrific with that all season long. With a pass success rate of 93.1% and an average of 1.6 tackles per game, Witsel has been a crucial component to maintaining midfield dominance for Die Schwarzgelben, and will continue to play that role in this game.

More from BVB Buzz

Marco Reus will be pivotal in this game as well. With a total of 9 goals and 4 assists this season, Reus has been one of our top scorers so far. He sits fourth in the scorer standings behind Frankfurt’s Sebastian Haller. We will need our captain to continue his form if we wish to see a win on Saturday, but with an added pinch of clinical finishing. Reus has missed a few golden chances in the last couple games, and it is my hope that the occasion will bring the best out of him, as it did against Bayern Munich when he scored a brace. We’ll need more rockets like that, please.

Jadon Sancho will also play a key role in this game. His creativity this season has been crucial for Dortmund up to now, and the young Englishman will most likely get an opportunity to make yet another mark on the Bundesliga and the club in this game. With 4 goals and 6 assists he is Borussia Dortmund’s top provider with regards to chances created and his creativity will be invaluable against a Schalke side that will be looking to breathe life into their season again.

Dortmund’s top scorer Paco Alcacer will almost certainly have his say in this game as well, but it will be interesting to see if his impact will once again be from the bench, or if he will start this encounter.

As I mentioned earlier, defensive players such as Manuel Akanji, Abdou Diallo, and Dan Axel Zagadou will have to be on top form. It still remains to be seen if Akanji will be starting or even on the bench, considering he was left out against Freiburg last weekend with a knee injury. Dan Axel Zagadou left the field early last week as well, but I am hoping he will be ready for this weekend’s clash.

Home/Borussia Dortmund News