Fortuna Dusseldorf have the opportunity to move further clear of the bottom two as they welcome an off-form Schalke outfit to the Esprit Arena on Wednesday.
Uwe Rosler’s side currently sit 16th – three points ahead of Werder Bremen and three points behind Mainz. Meanwhile, Schalke are 8th – one point ahead of Hoffenheim and level on 37 points with Freiburg.
Fortuna are unbeaten in their last five games, although four straight draws have prevented them from moving up the table.
A goalless draw with Paderborn after the break was followed by a 2-2 draw against FC Koln last time out. However, Dusseldorf will be seriously unhappy that they didn’t win their previous game.
Goals from Kenan Karaman and Erik Thommy put Fortuna two goals to the good, but two Koln goals in the final five minutes ensured the points were shared.
It’s worth pointing out that Dusseldorf are the joint-lowest scoring side in the Bundesliga this season with 29 goals in 27 games.
Schalke are enduring a dismal run which has seen them win just once in 2020. Five defeats and four draws in their last nine games have seen Schalke’s Champions League dreams crushed.
Following a 4-0 thumping at the hands of bitter rivals Borussia Dortmund, Schalke were beaten 3-0 by Augsburg last time out.
David Wagner’s side have only managed to score two goals in their previous nine league games and have conceded 22 during that period.
Only Paderborn sit below Schalke in the ten-game form table. One point from a possible 30 has left Wagner fighting to save his job.
Fortuna and Schalke played out an entertaining 3-3 draw in the reverse fixture back in November, with both teams winning one game each in the two meetings prior.
Rouwen Hennings scored a hat-trick for Dusseldorf in their last meeting with Schalke, and the 32-year-old now has 11 goals in 26 league appearances to his name this season.
Fortuna will need their star striker to be on top form on Wednesday, with fellow forward Dawid Kownacki and goalkeeper Zach Steffen both absent through injury.
As for Schalke, Amine Harit and Jean-Clair Todibo both picked up injuries recently, so it’s unclear whether the pair will be available this week.
One positive from the weekend: Seeing @ozankabak4 back in the squad for the first time since recovering from injury 👋#S04 pic.twitter.com/hKpKMbczzt— FC Schalke 04 (🏠) (@s04_en) May 25, 2020
One positive from the weekend: Seeing @ozankabak4 back in the squad for the first time since recovering from injury 👋#S04 pic.twitter.com/hKpKMbczzt
Given Schalke’s woeful run and Fortuna’s influx of draws recently, this game has got stalemate written all over it.
Forebet predicts that both teams will score over 1.5 goals, but the points are likely to be shared.