With four rounds of the 2017/18 German Bundesliga season complete, the first round of mid-week fixtures will take place this week and there is an exciting match to look forward to on Tuesday night. Schalke welcome Bayern Munich to the Veltins Arena in a match between two of the top four teams in the current Bundesliga table.
Schalke come into this match in fourth place, having taken 9 points from a possible 12 so far, this season. They sit one place below Bayern Munich, who have an identical record by a superior goal difference. Both teams sit behind Hannover 96 and league leaders Borussia Dortmund, both of which have 10 points to their name.
Schalke Form
Schalke come into this match on the back of a 2-1 victory at Werder Bremen on the weekend. This was their third win of the new Bundesliga campaign.
Schalke have also defeated RB Leipzig 2-0 and Stuttgart 3-1, both of which were at home. Their only defeat came at the hands of second place Hannover 96, in a 1-0 away defeat.
Schalke are undefeated in 5 of their last 6 Bundesliga games and will be aiming to continue that run by picking something up from this match. At home, they are undefeated in their last 9 Bundesliga matches and this game will be a real test of that record.
Bayern Munich Form
Bayern Munich started the season in their usual uncompromising fashion as they defeated Bayer Leverkusen 3-1 at the Allianz Arena and Werder Bremen 2-0 away from home.
However, having lost at Hoffenhiem last season, the away fixture which followed their win in Bremen was always going to be tough and Bayern Munich went down 2-0 in what was a disappointing performance. Fortunately for the champions, they had the home match against Mainz on Saturday to put things right before this game and did that with a comfortable 4-0 win.
Bayern Munich are undefeated in 25 of their last 27 Bundesliga games and in 12 of their last 14 on the road.
Team News
Schalke will be hoping to have everyone available for this fixture. However, there are slight concerns over Donis Avdijaj and Luke Hemmerich, who have ankle and foot problems. Bayern Munich are without two full-backs for this game as Juan Bernat and David Alaba will miss out due to injury. Neither player is expected to be back before the middle of October.
Top Betting Tips
Bayern Munich may have struggled away to Hoffenheim this season but they have such a good record in the Bundesliga, especially against Schalke who have failed to defeat them in their last 13 attempts, that you cannot ignore the away win.
Bayern Munich are 2/5 to win the match with Ladbrokes.
Bayern Munich’s away record shows they have kept 5 clean sheets in their last 8 Bundesliga games and will be searching for another one in this match. Bayern Munich to win the match to nil is 6/4 with Ladbrokes.
Bayern Munich have won 4 of their last 5 Bundesliga games by 2 goals or more and will be looking forward to attacking what looks like a less than sturdy Schalke defence. Bayern Munich to win the match by 2 goals or more is 13/15 at Ladbrokes.