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Schalke will host Karlsruher at the Veltins Arena in 2. Bundesliga action this Friday in what could be an intriguing game.
The two sides are separated by just one point in the league, but one team has been in better form of late than the other.
Schalke put a disappointing 4-1 defeat against Jahn Regensburg behind them to win two games on the bounce. Their gritty display against Paderborn this past weekend showed Dimitrios Grammozis’ side can dig deep to pick up results.
Karlsruher, on the other hand, have gone four league games without a win and need a victory to put their promotion hopes back on track.
A game away from home against Schalke will not be easy, even more so considering the Royal Blues’ recent form.
Schalke vs Karlsruher Head-to-head
Schalke have a head-to-head advantage heading into the fixture. The Royal Blues have won this fixture 19 times, while Karlsruher have won it 13 times. A total of 17 games have ended in draws.
Karlsruher, however, have never lost a game against Schalke when the two have faced off in the second division, and they will look to preserve that record come Friday.
Schalke form guide: W-D-L-W-W
Karlsruher form guide: W-D-D-L-D
Schalke vs Karlsruher Team News
Schalke
Blendi Idrizi is not expected to return before the end of the month. Salif Sane and Danny Latza are still unavailable, though the latter has returned to individual training.
Ko Itakura played against Paderborn despite initial doubts, and is expected to feature once again in the back three.
Injured: Danny Latza, Salif Sane, Blendi Idrizi
Suspended: None
Karlsruher
Leon Jensen and Paul Lohr are expected to miss out once again. Sebastian Jung played against Holstien Kiel, but has picked up an injury in training and is likely to miss out.
Injured: Leon Jensen, Paul Lohr, Sebastian Jung
Suspended: None
Schalke vs Karlsruher Predicted Lineups
Schalke Probable XI (3-1-4-2): Ralf Fahrmann; Marcin Kaminski, Mallick Thiaw, Ko Itakura; Victor Palsson; Thomas Ouwejan, Rodrigo Zalazar, Florian Flick, Darko Churlinov; Marius Bulter, Simon Terodde
Karlsruher Probable XI (4-3-3): Marius Gersbeck; Marco Thiede, Daniel Gordon, Christoph Kobald, Philip Heise; Tim Breithaupt, Jerome Gondorf, Marvin Wanitzek; Marc Lorenz, Philipp Hofmann, Kyoung-rok Choi
Schalke vs Karlsruher Prediction
Schalke have become stronger defensively in recent games and we expect them to retain their rigidity at the back. With Simon Terodde in brilliant form, they haven’t found it hard to score goals either.
We expect Die Knappen to pick up a narrow win against Karlsruher.
Prediction: Schalke 1-0 Karlsruher
