There are several matches to be played in the German Bundesliga on Saturday afternoon. One of which takes place at the VELTINS-Arena as Schalke meet Werder Bremen.
The hosts begin this round of fixtures in 9th place on 37 points and still have an opportunity to qualify for the Europa League. The visitors are in 17th place and involved in a battle against relegation. They are currently 6 points adrift of safety and 5 points away from the relegation playoff place.
Schalke come into the game having lost 2-1 at Fortuna Dusseldorf in midweek. It was another disappointing performance against the team currently occupying the relegation playoff position. The result means that since the resumption of the league following the suspension due to coronavirus Schalke have lost all 3 of their Bundesliga matches.
In addition to the defeat in midweek, Schalke have lost 4-0 at Borussia Dortmund in the derby and 3-0 at home against Augsburg. They were once in a promising position in the table but are being dragged down the league.
Schalke have failed to win any of their last 10 Bundesliga games, picking up just 5 points from a possible 30. They have failed to win any of their last 4 home matches and have conceded 10 goals across those 4 games.
Werder Bremen managed to pick up a point in their previous game at home against Borussia Monchengladbach. The match ended 0-0 and while it was not a win, it was a decent result against a team hoping to qualify for the Champions League. Last weekend, Werder Bremen earned what could be a crucial victory at Freiburg and they have now lost only one of their last 4 Bundesliga matches.
Away form shows they are undefeated in their last 2 Bundesliga games and in addition to the victory at Freiburg, Werder Bremen got a point in a 2-2 draw at Hertha Berlin. Trends show Werder Bremen are capable of scoring goals away from home and they have found the back of the net at least once in 4 of their last 5 away Bundesliga matches.
However, clean sheets have not been easy to come by and Werder Bremen have kept just one in their last 4 away games, conceding a total of 7 goals.
Looking ahead to the team news and Schalke are without the injured duo of Amine Harit and Suat Serdar. They also have doubts over Omar Mascarell, Benjamin Stambouli and Benito Raman. However, Ozan Kabak should be available.
Werder Bremen will be without Milos Veljkovic who is suspended for this game. Claudio Pizarro, Niclas Füllkrug and Ömer Toprak are all injured while there are doubts over the fitness of Ludwig Augustinsson and Kevin Möhwald.
🗣️ #Baumann: "After the defeat in the restart we were expecting lots of criticism, whether that was internally, from former players or from the media. That's what happens when you're in this situation, but it's important we stick together. We proved that this week." #werder pic.twitter.com/kd9K7QRBVj— SV Werder Bremen EN (@werderbremen_en) May 29, 2020
🗣️ #Baumann: "After the defeat in the restart we were expecting lots of criticism, whether that was internally, from former players or from the media. That's what happens when you're in this situation, but it's important we stick together. We proved that this week." #werder pic.twitter.com/kd9K7QRBVj
Neither of these teams have been easy to predict this season but it would be a surprise if we didn't see both concede goals in this match. Schalke’s poor run cannot continue for much longer and they could pick up a much needed win.