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Schalke entertain Hannover at the Veltins-Arena in 2.Bundesliga action on Saturday.
The hosts kept their promotion hopes alive as they secured a 3-0 win at Ingolstadt on Sunday. The top three sides in the division dropped points, so the hosts are now just four points behind Damtstadt in the league standings.
Hannover suffered their second loss in a row as they fell to a 3-0 loss at home to Nurnberg. They are in 14th place in the league standings, so their promotion hopes are all but over.
Schalke vs Hannover Head-to-Head
The two sides have played each other 76 times across all competitions, with their first meeting dating back to 1941. Schalke have enjoyed a 43-18 lead in wins while 15 games have ended in draws.
The hosts are also on a three-game winning streak against their eastern rivals, who have been winless at Saturday's venue since 2010. They last met at HDI Arena in league action in October. The game ended in a 1-0 win for Die Königsblauen as Marcin Kamiński scored the winning goal in injury time.
Schalke form guide (2.Bundesliga): W-L-D-W-L
Hannover form guide (all competitions): L-L-L-W-W
Schalke vs Hannover Team News
Schalke
Michael Langer is back in training but is not yet fit enough to start here. Salif Sané, Thomas Ouwejan, Mehmet Aydin, Andreas Vindheim and Dong-gyeong Lee are the other injury concerns for the home side.
Malick Thiaw picked up a knee injury in training earlier this week and faces a few weeks on the sidelines. Marcin Kamiński will miss the game following his fifth yellow card of the campaign last time around.
Club captain Danny Latza is expected to miss the game following a positive COVID-19 test last week.
Injured: Michael Langer, Andreas Vindheim, Thomas Ouwejan, Salif Sane, Mehmet Aydin, Malick Thiaw
Doubtful: Danny Latza
Suspended: Marcin Kamiński
Hannover
Sebastian Ernst is a long-term absentee with an Achilles tendon rupture and is not expected to feature here. Luka Krajnc and Maximilian Beier tested positive for COVID-19 last week. Beier is back in training while there are doubts over Krajnc's availability.
Dominik Kaiser and Lawrence Ennali were the latest players to test positive for the virus and will miss the game.
Injured: Sebastian Ernst
Doubtful: Luka Krajnc
Suspended: None
Unavailable (COVID-19): Dominik Kaiser, Lawrence Ennali
Schalke vs Hannover Predicted XI
Schalke Probable XI (4-4-2): Martin Fraisl (GK); Reinhold Ranftl, Ko Itakura, Marius Lode, Henning Matriciani; Victor Palsson, Kerim Calhanoglu, Rodrigo Zalazar, Darko Churlinov; Marius Bulter, Simon Terrode
Hannover 96 Predicted XI (4-2-3-1): Ron-Robert Zieler (GK); Jannik Dehm, Marcel Franke, Julian Borner, Niklas Hult; Gael Ondoua, Mark Diemers; Linton Maina, Hendrik Weydandt, Cedric Teuchert; Maximilian Beier
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Schalke vs Hannover Prediction
Schalke have the second-best scoring record in the league with 52 goals while Die Roten have the second-worst attacking record with 24 goals. Hannover have lost two games in a row and travel to North Rhine-Westphalia in poor form.
The hosts have been the better side in this fixture and should be able to record a win here.
Prediction: Schalke 2-0 Hannover
