How do Bayer Leverkusen and Borussia Dortmund compare?

Throw in the fact Leverkusen are coached by former Dortmund gaffer Peter Bosz, and that a handful of the game's most talented youngsters will be on display, and you have the ingredients for another Bundesliga classic.

bundesliga.com takes a closer look at where Saturday evening's clash might be decided.

The best young talent in the world

Already read about the Bundesliga kid putting the teenage achievements of Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Kylian Mbappe in the shade? That will be Dortmund's England international Jadon Sancho. What the 19-year-old has already achieved in his formative years would see him emerge favourably from a teenage comparison with some of the game's current greats. Focusing purely on the present season, however, he is already taking it to some of the biggest names in the world game with, once again, favourable results. The first teenager in Bundesliga history to reach 25 goals has scored and assisted in seven of his past nine Bundesliga games. He tops the Bundesliga's assists chart – together with Thomas Müller – and leads the mere humans in pursuit of the extra-terrestrial duo of Robert Lewandowski and Timo Werner at the top of the scoring charts.

Sancho could still find inspiration in the accomplishments of Kai Havertz, however. Now 20, the German midfielder – who has been on Bayer's books since he was 11 – set some teenage records of his own for Die Werkself, not least becoming the first teenager in Bundesliga history to score 17 goals in a single season. Leverkusen's all-time youngest debutant – and their youngest goalscorer – was the youngest player ever to reach 50 appearances in Germany's top flight, while nine of those 17 goals last season gave Leverkusen a 1-0 lead. Furthermore, the Aachen-born midfielder plundered 11 of them under Bosz.

Bosz vs. Borussia

Which leads us nicely onto the next argument: Bosz. Dortmund took a gamble on one of the hottest emerging coaching talents in the game in 2017, appointing the man who had just guided Ajax to second in the Dutch Eredivisie and to the final of the UEFA Europa League. He hit the ground running in Westphalia, amassing 19 points from his first record-breaking seven games, including five straight clean sheets to begin with – a Bundesliga record. With a record-breaking goal difference of +19 from those opening seven Bundesliga fixtures, Bosz' impact on the Bundesliga was extremely positive. Dortmund seemed vindicated by their decision to appoint a man whose attack-minded, high-energy pressing game was the closest they had come to duplicating Jürgen Klopp's success-filled regime.

For whatever reason, the bubble burst shortly after, and Bosz' reign in Dortmund reached only six months before he was let go. After just over a year out of the game, Bosz returned to coaching and the Bundesliga with Bayer Leverkusen in December 2018. He has now overseen exactly twice as many games for Die Werkself as he did in his Dortmund days (48 vs 24), raising his points per match from 1.25 to 1.71. He continues to employ a similar attacking style, but while his defence may have been wobbly at Dortmund, the same cannot be said at Leverkusen. In fact…

Leaping to Leverkusen's defence

Only two teams in the Bundesliga have conceded fewer – and just a single goal at that – than Leverkusen this term, with Bayern Munich and Borussia Mönchengladbach shipping 23 to Leverkusen's 24. Largely responsible for such a low figure is goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky, who has kept five clean sheets this season and given plenty of assurances to his defenders. Kicker magazine has its own rating mechanism, and they have Hradecky listed in third of all Bundesliga players, behind Lewandowski and Werner. The Bender twins of Sven and captain Lars have also added strength to the Leverkusen defence with their experience, alongside the 23-year-old Germany international Jonathan Tah.

However, Dortmund need not feel any inferiority complex in the defensive department, having only conceded one more goal in their 20 games so far this season. The arrival of Mats Hummels from Bayern last summer gave Dortmund a solid pillar at the heart of their defence, while the 31-year-old's game has also evolved since he took a figurative step back into a quarterback-style position in a back three. With Manuel Akanji going from strength to strength and Lukasz Pisczcek revealing no indication of his age, Dortmund's defence is perhaps one of the most dynamic in the league – quicker than any other in transition. And when Dortmund do turn defence to attack, boy can they do some damage.

Watch: Hummels the quarterback in Dortmund's defence

Five-star attack

Since the turn of the year, Dortmund have scored 15 goals in just three league games – five against Augsburg, five against Cologne and five against Union Berlin. Almost half of those goals have been scored by one man, or rather, one teenager: Erling Haaland. There simply aren't enough superlatives to describe the impact the Norwegian forward has made since arriving from Salzburg last month, with a hat-trick on his debut followed by a brace on his second appearance and another two goals in what was his first start for the club. The 19-year-old added another on his DFB Cup debut in midweek, and does not know how to stop scoring.

Haaland has slotted into what was already a very functional attack, with Marco Reus flanked by the aforementioned Sancho and Thorgan Hazard, and ample support down either wing from Achraf Hakimi and Raphael Guerrero. Wherever you look, there is an attacking outlet at the ready, but the arrival of Haaland has enhanced this threat further. No longer do Dortmund need to construct their play on the ground with a string of quick passes – they can now lump it long for Haaland to throw his weight around if needs be. "We haven't had that kind of striker since Robert Lewandowski," said Reus, who will miss out due to injury for the next four weeks. No fear there, though, because Dortmund have another young gun holstered, with 17-year-old Gio Reyna celebrating his first competitive goal for the club in the cup in midweek.

Keeping up with the Borussias

The odds may seem to be stacked in Dortmund's favour, but when has that ever bothered Leverkusen? Earlier this season a 1-1 draw at home to RB Leipzig was followed by a 2-1 win against Bayern Munich, at the Allianz Arena no less. Few would have predicted either result. When they were down and seemingly out after three straight defeats in the UEFA Champions League, they responded with back-to-back wins over Atletico Madrid and Lokomotiv Moscow to secure third in their group, and snatch UEFA Europa League knockout football in 2020. Leverkusen simply do not lie down, and who is to say they don't have the same amount of quality in their squad.

Kevin Volland has seven goals and six assists this season, making a return to the Germany squad in the next international break almost a fait accompli. The 27-year-old actually delivered more goals and assists combined in the 2019 calendar year than any of his compatriots. Move over Werner, Havertz, Reus and Serge Gnabry – none could even hold a candle to Volland's contribution to 21 goals between January and last December.

Who scored not only one but two goals at the Allianz Arena? Leon Bailey, that's who. The Jamaican is back from a three-game suspension and, after being restricted to just half of Leverkusen's league fixtures this season, he will be keener than ever to make up for lost time.

Watch: Bailey's match-winning brace in Munich

And then there is Lucas Alario, who has six goals this season and plenty of ambition. "From the moment the season started, we’ve wanted to compete at the top," he said in October. "We’ll try to get to the end of the season and be able to say we were in the top three, right up there. That would be great."

A win on Saturday would take Leverkusen to within two points of Dortmund and that top-three objective, but for every Havertz there is a Haaland, and every Hummels has his Hradecky in an intriguing match-up at the BayArena this Saturday.