Schalke 04-Wolfsburg is a match on the 20th day of the Bundesliga and is played on Friday at 8:30pm: TV, line-ups, predictions.
Schalke 04, back in the top flight after just one year of purgatory, are in danger of ending up downstairs again. The Gelsenkirchen club’s season so far has been disappointing, to say the least, with the Konigsblauen barely able to score 11 points in 19 matches. Such a poor haul that they have been unable to break away from the bottom of the table for months now, although salvation is still within reach for Thomas Reis’ men.
Having succeeded Frank Kramer in the autumn, the former Bochum coach is doing everything he can to try and turn things around, trying to at least reduce the gap to the other teams currently fighting for staying in the Bundesliga. Positive signs, the kind that show that Terodde and his teammates are reluctant to give up, have come in the last two matches, in which Schalke brought home two consecutive draws in the challenges against Cologne and Borussia Monchengladbach. Two non-trivial nil-nil matches, since for the first time this season the most beaten defence in the German top league (41 goals conceded) remained untouched for 180 minutes. Progress was made in the non-possession phase, but Kramer would now do well to concentrate on an attack that has produced very little in the last five matches, only one goal.
Wolfsburg’s abrupt decline
We will see if they return to winning ways in the first leg against a Wolfsburg side looking for redemption after three consecutive defeats in the Bundesliga and German Cup. A rude awakening for Niko Kovac’s green-and-whites, who have suddenly rediscovered their vulnerability.
van de Ven
After the end of their long unbeaten run – interrupted in the away match in Bremen – thanks to which they had gone from the relegation zone to Europe in just a few weeks, Wolfsburg continued to lose and struggled to get back up. First the farewell to the cup against Union Berlin, on Sunday instead the 2-4 with Bayern Munich, which gave its former coach an upset.
The prediction
Wolfsburg are unbeaten in their last five meetings with Schalke 04 and should again be able to avoid defeat. It is crucial for Reis’ team to get back on the score sheet, but the green-and-whites also cannot make too many missteps if they want to aim for Europe. We assume a guest victory in a game of less than four goals overall, in light of the hosts’ recent defensive numbers.
The likely Schalke 04-Wolfsburg line-ups
- SCHALKE 04 (4-3-3): Fährmann; Brunner, Yoshida, Jenz, Uronen; Kral, Balanta, Krauß; Kozuki, Terodde, Skarke.
- WOLFSBURG (4-3-3): Casteels; Baku, Bornauw, van de Ven, Otavio; Svanberg, Arnold, F. Nmecha; Wimmer, Wind, Kaminski.
POSSIBLE RESULT: 0-1
