Facts and stats ahead of #BMGS04

Everything you need to know ahead of the Foals’ Bundesliga home game against FC Schalke 04 on Saturday evening (18:30 CET kick-off).

Fans

• From 2nd November, the German government agreed with each state that professional sports events would have to take place without fans until at least the end of November. That is part of a package of measures introduced in reaction to the exponential increase in coronavirus cases. The home game against Schalke will therefore be behind closed doors.

Pre-match

• Last Wednesday, Diego Maradona passed away from a heart attack at the age of 60. Ahead of kick-off in this weekend’s games, a minute’s silence will be held across the Bundesliga in honour of the 1986 World Cup winner. The players will also wear black armbands.

Head-to-head record

• Borussia and Schalke 04 will meet for the 95th time in the Bundesliga on Saturday. The Foals lead the head-to-head record, claiming 38 wins compared to the Royal Blues’ 28. There have also been 28 draws.
• Gladbach are unbeaten in their last seven Bundesliga home games against Schalke (W5, D2).
• The Foals have only recorded more Bundesliga home wins against Bremen (30) than they have against Schalke (29).
• Borussia have also kept 22 clean sheets at home against S04 – more than against any other Bundesliga team.
• Schalke’s last win in Mönchengladbach was a 1-0 victory back in May 2013 courtesy of a Julian Draxler goal.
• Gladbach have only lost one of their last nine competitive games against Schalke, namely the 2-0 loss in Gelsenkirchen back in January. It remains S04’s most recent Bundesliga win.

Statistics

• Mönchengladbach may be unbeaten at home in the Bundesliga this season, yet the recent draw against Augsburg was already the third out of the four home matches in the league so far.
• Schalke have already conceded six goals from headers this season, and ten from set pieces. Both are league highs and bode well for the Foals, with Borussia having already netted seven goals from dead balls, a joint league high together with Leipzig. Four of those seven goals have come from the penalty spot.
• Breel Embolo joined Gladbach from Schalke in 2019, scoring ten goals and providing nine assists in his 48 Bundesliga games over three years in Gelsenkirchen. He has already racked up more goals and assists combined in his 34 Bundesliga matches for the Foals (20 – 8 goals plus 12 assists).
• Schalke are without a victory in their last 24 Bundesliga games (D9, L15), the second longest winless run in league history (Tasmania Berlin went 31 without a win in 1965/66). S04’s previous record dry spell was only half as long (12 games in 1993/94).
• FC Schalke 04 haven’t won any of their last 15 Bundesliga away games (D5, L10), with their last victory on the road a 2-1 win over Bremen on 23rd November 2019.

Referee

• Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the DFB won’t decide on the referee for the game until late on.

Social Media

• Fans can follow the game with the hashtag #BMGS04 or by following Borussia’s English-language social media accounts on Facebook and Twitter.