Borussia Dortmund face off against Bayern Munich at the Signal Iduna Park in the Bundesliga on Saturday. It's a match of epic proportions as the former could see their title hopes squished with a defeat.
With the Bavarians holding an eight-point lead over them, the BVB must come away with a victory here to keep their slim chances alive in the title race while hoping their Der Klassiker rivals slip up a few more times during the home stretch.
Both teams have suffered the joint-lowest number of defeats in the Bundesliga this season with one each: while the holders lost to Augsburg, Dortmund went down 2-1 to Bayern. That stat alone should offer a glimpse into the scale of their clash tomorrow.
Niko Kovac's side are currently on the longest active unbeaten run in the German top-flight, having gone their last 16 fixtures without a loss. While their form hasn't always been convincing during this run, the Black and Yellows have consistently proved that they are hard to beat.
Team News for Der Klassiker
Dortmund are bolstered by the return of Nico Schlotterbeck, who missed their Leipzig trip last weekend. He was shown a red card during their midweek Champions League clash to Atalanta while being on the bench, but is available for selection here.
Former Bayern star Niklas Sule will miss a reunion with his former employers tomorrow as the German international is currently nursing a hamstring injury, while Filippo Mane is out with muscular problems.
Most importantly, Dortmund's assist king Julian Ryerson is also set for the sidelined as the Norwegian ace serves a one-game suspension for accumulation of yellow cards.
His abscence is a huge blow for the BVB, who have relied on him to score from set-pieces in their recent games. Without him taking charge, they will be forced to look somewhere else for deadball magic tomorrow.
Ramy Bensebaini too was sent off in the 4-1 loss to Atalanta for hitting Nikola Krstovic on the head with his studs in a poor challenge, but should retain his place in the XI here as Kovac will be hoping for a better display from him against Bayern.
After netting in four games on the bounce, Serhou Guirassy appears to have fizzled out yet again. He's drawn a blank in Dortmund's last two games against RB Leipzig and Atalanta but is likely to start again in tomorrow's pivotal encounter.
Dortmund's probable starting XI: Gregor Kobel; Emre Can, Waldemar Anton, Nico Schlotterbeck; Yan Couto, Jobe Bellingham, Felix Nmecha, Daniel Svensson; Karim Adeyemi, Maximilian Beier; Serhou Guirassy.