Hoffenheim-Schalke 04 is a Bundesliga Week 27 match and is played on Sunday at 7:30pm: TV, line-ups, predictions.
After an interminable losing streak, only interrupted last January by a draw with Stuttgart, Hoffenheim are back on a roll. In fact, two.
At the turn of the last break for the national teams, two precious victories came in a row – it hadn’t happened since last August – against Hertha Berlin and Werder Bremen, thanks to which the team coached by Pellegrino Matarazzo was momentarily able to leave the relegation zone. The ascent, however, is not yet over. The Sinsheim outfit bring the curtain down on the 27th Bundesliga day together with Schalke 04, one of the two salvation clashes on the Easter schedule in addition to Bochum-Stuttgart. Needless to say, heavy points are at stake at the PreZero Arena. Hoffenheim, with another success, could move further away from the red zone, breaking away from Schalke, who would end up at -7. The certainty from which Matarazzo started could only be Andrej Kramaric, author of three goals in the last two games.
Another thrilling clash
The US coach’s tactical move to move him back a few metres, almost to the midfield inside role, seems apt.
The Schalke 04 players’ jubilation
He could once again be one of the stars of the match against Thomas Reis’ team, who are coming off their first defeat since last January. Schalke 04’s long unbeaten run, which was crucial to their chances of salvation, came to an end a week ago with a 0-3 home debacle against Bayer Leverkusen. It is not yet the last word, however, for the Gelsenkirchen club, which remains -1 behind third-last-placed Hertha Berlin. A real ‘miracle’ if we consider where Schalke were until a few months ago: in 59 years of Bundesliga no one had been able to achieve such a comeback.
The Prediction
Hoffenheim in the last two games have given the feeling that they have unblocked themselves after months in which everything was going wrong. The team had been built to fight for other goals and the higher technical level of the squad could make the difference in these last matches. The hosts are favourites but are likely to concede at least one goal, as they have done in their last sixteen matches.
The Hoffenheim-Schalke 04 matchday squad
- HOFFENHEIM (3-4-1-2): Baumann; Vogt, Brooks, Akpoguma; Kaderabek, Geiger, Becker, Angelino; Kramaric; Bebou, Baumgartner.
- SCHALKE 04 (4-2-3-1): Fährmann; Brunner, Yoshida, Jenz, Matriciani; Kral, Krauß; Drexler, Zalazar, Bülter; Frey.
POSSIBLE RESULT: 2-1
