The clash between the Red & Whites and the Black & Yellows was once known as the "Westschlager" (western clash). But RWE haven't been in the Bundesliga since 1977. For many years, former Essen players played for BVB and vice versa, and the fans of both clubs have been friends for almost 50 years. Borussia Dortmund's U23s will visit Hafenstrasse on Sunday (13:30 CET), where they will be looking to take home three points for the first time since 2017.

The young Black & Yellows' last win in Essen came seven years ago. Both teams feature a single player from back then: Michael Eberwein for Borussia Dortmund and Cedric Harenbrock for RWE, although the latter did not play on the day.

RWE won the first encounter of this season 2-1 in front of a record crowd of 17,093 fans at SIGNAL IDUNA PARK. Never before had so many fans attended a home match of the Borussia Dortmund U23s. BVB fell behind early on before Falko Michael grabbed an equaliser on the hour mark. However, RWE soon took the ball down the other end to score the decisive goal.

Now, after two defeats in a row, Black & Yellows are looking to get back to winning ways. Coach Jan Zimmermann stated that dropping points against Duisburg and Bielefeld was "unnecessary", but "it wasn't all bad". He added: "Of course, our standards have risen after many good weeks. But it's also clear that we can do better." The Black & Yellows conceded early goals in both games: "We urgently need to put an end to the mistakes that led to us conceding early goals so that we're not carrying a handicap around with us for the rest of the game," said the coach.

It is still unclear two days before the game whether Ole Pohlmann, who has been sorely missed in recent weeks, will be fit enough to return to action. "You've seen in the last few games how important Ole Pohlmann is for our play. But we've also won games without him," said Zimmermann regarding the midfielder. While Borussia Dortmund's squad remains thin, the hosts will be without three players, including striker Ron Berlinski, who was shown a red card in the recent home match against Unterhaching.

BVB have amassed 45 points in the 3. Liga and currently sit in sixth place in the table. Essen, for their part, have one point fewer to their name in eighth place. In the season after achieving promotion, the Black & Yellows were in ninth place at the same point in the campaign and had four points fewer to their name. In Zimmermann's words: "After the 45-point mark, we had a slight drop in intensity. We didn't summon up the last few drops of energy. We have to be ready to push ourselves to the limit again. It would be a shame if we fell out of this great position that we've worked so hard to achieve."

Tickets for the match are available at the ticket office and in the online ticket shop.