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Schalke will host FC Erzgebirge Aue in their third 2. Bundesliga outing on Friday. The Royal Blues have bounced back well after their opening day defeat at the hands of Hamburg.
Dimitrios Grammozis’ side eased past FC Villingen in the first round of the DFB Pokal on Sunday and will not look to make it two wins from two league games.
Schalke’s previous 2. Bundesliga game against Holstein Kiel was pretty even on the pitch, even though the Royal Blues were the better side in taking their chances.
After beating Kiel 3-0, Schalke will hope to put Erzgebirge Aue to the sword on Friday. The Violets are yet to win a game in the second tier and have so far mustered two goalless draws.
Schalke vs Erzgebirge Aue Head-to-head
The two sides have never faced off in a competitive fixture. They have squared off only once in a pre-season friendly, a game that Erzgebirge Aue won 1-0 back in July 2018.
Schalke head into the game in better form as Erzgebirge were beaten by Ingolstadt in their last game. Erzgebirge Aue lost the game 2-1 away from home in the first round of the DFB Pokal.
Schalke form guide: L-W-W
Erzgebirge Aue form guide: D-D-L
Schalke vs Erzgebirge Aue Team News
Schalke
Malick Thiaw, Michael Langer, Amine Harit and Matija Nastasic trained individually. It remains to be seen if they will feature on Friday. Matthew Hoppe didn’t train due to a stomach flu, and is a doubt.
The duo of Danny Latza and Salif Sane continue their recovery from their respective injuries. Watch out for Rodrigo Zalazar, who has hit the ground running and scored on his debut against Villingen.
Injured: Danny Latza, Salif Sane
Doubtful: Malick Thiaw, Michael Langer, Amine Harit, Matija Nastasic, Matthew Hoppe
Suspended: None
Erzgebirge Aue
Erzgebirge Aue will be without Jan Hochscheidt, Malcolm Cacutalua, Nicolas Kühn, Florian Ballas and Philipp Zulechner.
Injured: Jan Hochscheidt, Malcolm Cacutalua, Nicolas Kuhn, Florian Ballas, Philipp Zulechner
Suspended: None
Schalke vs Erzgebirge Aue Predicted Lineups
Schalke Probable Lineup (3-5-2): Ralf Fahrmann; Marcin Kaminski, Timo Becker, Florian Flick; Thomas Ouwejan, Rodrigo Zalazar, Victor Palsson, Dominick Drexler, Reinhold Ranftl; Marius Bulter, Simon Terodde
Erzgebirge Aue Probable Lineup (4-4-2): Martin Mannel; Gaatan Bussmann, Dirk Carlson, Soren Gonther, Anthony Barylla; Ognjen Gnjatic, Clemens Fandrich, Omar Sijaric, John-Patrick Strauss; Babacar Gueye, Ben Zolinski
Schalke vs Erzgebirge Aue Prediction
Schalke have done well in their last two games. We expect them to make use of their home support to pick up their first win at the Veltins Arena this season.
Score prediction: Schalke 2-0 Erzgebirge Aue
