The German Bundesliga action begins on Friday night again this weekend and Schalke will play Mainz at the Veltins Arena. Since the 2010/11 season, Schalke have always finished inside the top half of the Bundesliga table and have qualified for the Champions League three times thanks to their league position. However, the last three seasons have seen them finish 6th, 5th and 10th which has not been good enough for a place in the Champions League and they are aiming to make a return to Europe’s premier club competition by finishing inside the top four this season.
German Bundesliga – Veltins-Arena, Gelsenkirchen – Friday 20th October – 19:30 UK Time
|
Draw Best Odd of: 5/2 at Ladbrokes |
|
Schalke 04
Mainz 05Schalke Form
Schalke start this match 6th in the Bundesliga table but know a win can lift them to 4th prior to the other matches this weekend. They have played 8, won 4, drawn 1 and lost 3 of their league matches this season, with 2 of the 3 defeats coming in their last 4 games. Since the defeat away at Hoffenheim, Schalke have recovered with a 1-1 draw at home to Bayer Leverkusen and a 2-0 win at Hertha Berlin, the latter of which was a good result. Schalke are unbeaten in 10 of their last 11 home Bundesliga games with the only defeat coming against Bayern Munich earlier this season. They have also won all their last 3 home matches against Mainz in the Bundesliga.
Mainz Form
Mainz start this match 10th in the Bundesliga and having finished 15th last season, will be happy to find themselves in mid-table. They are undefeated in their previous 3 Bundesliga games with wins over Hertha Berlin and Hamburg at home and 1-1 draw at Wolfsburg. The problem for Mainz comes when playing away from home and they have a dreadful record on the road in the Bundesliga. They have won only 1 of their last 17 away league games and have failed to score a goal in 4 of their last 5 matches.
Team News
Schalke are waiting on the fitness of several players ahead of this match and have doubts over Matija Nastasic, Pablo Insua, Luke Hemmerich, Weston McKennie and Donis Avdijaj. Mainz are also keeping an eye on Gerrit Holtmann, Alexander Hack, Karim Onisiwo, Niko Bungert and Aaron Seydel, who are all battling for fitness ahead of the game.
Top Betting Tips
Given the way Schalke have bounced back from their double defeat in September and Mainz’s very poor away record in the Bundesliga, it is impossible to predict anything other than a home win for this match. Schalke are 4/5 with Ladbrokes to win the game. Schalke are not great when it comes to keeping clean sheets at home but Mainz have managed just 1 goal across their last 5 Bundesliga matches. This is the perfect opportunity for Schalke to pick up a rare clean sheet. Schalke to win to nil is 2/1 with Ladbrokes.
While the Schalke strikers have been struggling to find their goal scoring boots, Leon Goretzka has been finding the back of the net from midfield. He has 3 goals in the Bundesliga, each of which were the first goal of the game and he scored 2 in Germany’s win over Azerbaijan recently. Leon Goretzka is 8/1 with Ladbrokes to score the first goal of the match.