WERDER BREMA – SCHALKE 04 | Saturday 6.30pm
Maybe it won’t be enough to merit a late call-up to the German national team for the upcoming World Cup, but Niclas Fullkrug is currently the most prolific striker (9 goals) in the Bundesliga alongside Leipzig’s Christopher Nkunku. It is the class of ’93, who grew up in Werder Bremen’s youth academy, who provisionally leads the scorers’ table, which has been left without the likes of Haaland and Lewandowski. A goalscorer who is making the green-and-white coach Ole Werner’s fortune, at the helm of the newly promoted team that is best placed in the table. Werder, in fact, is eighth, just a glue away from that seventh place which, if the championship ended now, would mean qualification for the Conference League. Last Friday, meanwhile, it was the usual Fullkrug who gave Werder three points, scoring the decisive goal (1-0) in the direct clash with Hertha Berlin.
A precious victory, which came after two consecutive defeats against Mainz and Freiburg, allowing the Hanseatic club to take another small step towards what remains the main objective: salvation. In a diametrically opposite mood is Schalke 04, newly promoted in the same way as Werder Bremen, but still unable to absorb the jump in category, although last year the team from Gelsenkirchen came first in the cadet championship just ahead of the green-and-whites. Schalke 04 lie at the bottom of the league table, in twelve matches they have collected only six points – 12 less than their next opponents – and seem to be struggling even with their new coach. Thomas Reis took over from Frank Kramer a week ago, but the change in the bench did nothing to prevent yet another defeat, the sixth in a row in the Bundesliga, in front of their home crowd (0-2) against Freiburg.
The Prediction
Werder Bremen should also be able to get the better of a Schalke 04 in freefall. A good number of goals are also expected – at least two in total – considering that the green-and-whites’ attack is one of the most prolific in the league: it cannot be ruled out that the unrestrained Fullkrug will score again against the second worst defence in the Bundesliga.
The Werder Bremen v Schalke 04 matchday squad
- WERDER BREMA (3-5-2): Pavlenka; Pieper, Veljkovic, Friedl; Weiser, Schmid, Gruev, Bittencourt, Jung; Füllkrug, Ducksch.
- SCHALKE 04 (4-2-3-1): Schwolow; Brunner, Matriciani, Yoshida, Calhanoglu; Kral, Krauß; Karaman, Mollet, Bülter; Terodde.
POSSIBLE RESULT: 2-1
