Schalke v Borussia Dortmund: Rivals out to kick-start league campaigns

Bitter rivals Borussia Dortmund and Schalke will be hoping to claim a Revierderby triumph to arrest their respective Bundesliga slumps.

Both teams have endured underwhelming starts to the 2014-15 domestic campaign, with just three wins between them in 10 league matches.

A 3-0 victory at Werder Bremen eased the mounting pressure on Schalke coach Jens Keller on Tuesday, but that was their first win of the season as they prepare to host Dortmund on Saturday.

For Dortmund, Saturday’s 2-0 loss at Klopp’s former employers Mainz and a 2-2 draw at home to struggling Stuttgart on Wednesday stifled their momentum following the 2-0 defeat of Arsenal in the UEFA Champions League.

And Klopp was once again left fuming by his side’s defensive errors in midweek as Dortmund initially went 2-0 down to Stuttgart.

He said: “We again made two serious mistakes and then got two goals back. This is the classic case – what we build with our hands, we knock down with our butts.

“We know that we can always score but the goals we gave away are just ridiculous.

“For the first goal we appealed for offside, but it probably wasn’t. It’s a fact that play ends when the referee whistles. And he was right to not end it.

“For the second goal it was one against two in our own penalty area, something I’ve never experienced in my 209 games at BVB.”

Dortmund’s tally of seven points from five games represents their worst start to a Bundesliga campaign since the 2011-12 season, which incidentally is the last time Klopp’s men won the title.

Keller’s Schalke have played seven times in all competitions so far this term and the Bremen victory was their first win across all fronts.

Dortmund have picked up a win in three of their last four visits to the Veltins Arena in the Bundesliga, but victory on Saturday will be all the more impressive considering notable their injury problems.

Nuri Sahin (knee), Henrikh Mkhitaryan (foot), Marco Reus (ankle), Sebastian Kehl (groin), Oliver Kirch (thigh), Jakub Blaszczykowski and Ji Dong-won (both muscle) are all expected to be missing.

Klopp will have the boost of being able to select Mats Hummels for the first time this season, though, after the defender took a place on the bench on Wednesday.

Keller has a few injury concerns of his own to contend with, as Jefferson Farfan (knee), Leon Goretzka (thigh), Sead Kolasinac (knee) and captain Benedikt Howedes (hip) are all ruled out, while star man Julian Draxler is suspended.