Schalke have become almost a laughing stock in the Bundesliga. The Royal Blues have won just one of their last 32 outings in the German top-flight.
That recent form is unlikely to get any better this weekend, as they welcome reigning champions Bayern Munich to the Veltins Arena on Sunday afternoon.
Schalke did seem to revive their league campaign a few weeks ago with a 4-0 home win over Hoffenheim. However, since that rare victory Manuel Baum’s team have suffered defeats against both Eintracht Frankfurt and last time out most crucially Koln.
The 2-1 loss against the Billy Goats was crucial because it took 16th place Koln eight points clear of Schalke who occupy 18th spot in the German top-flight table.
Unsurprisingly, Schalke have won just one of their last 16 league matches in Gelsenkirchen. The fact that they have kept just one clean sheet in that run of games is a big factor in the poor results.
Bayern Munich are in their perennial position of top of the Bundesliga table, four points clear of second-place RB Leipzig. However, there have been murmurings of unrest behind the scenes of the European champions. On the pitch, Bayern recorded a narrow 1-0 win at Augsburg last time out to make it five wins out of their last six in the Bundesliga.
The Bavarians goal machine Polish striker Robert Lewandowski scored the only goal last time out to take his goal tally in the Bundesliga this season to 22 in just 16 league appearances.
The Augsburg game was a rare low-scoring one for the visitors though, as they had scored at least two goals in their previous five outings in the Bundesliga, with Lewandowski playing a big part in the goals of course.
Forebet predicts that this game will be business as usual with Bayern recording a victory in a high-scoring game to consolidate their lead at the top of the table.