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Schalke will hope to put a run of three league games without a win behind them when they host Sandhausen in the 2. Bundesliga on Saturday.
The Royal Blues were held to a 1-1 draw by Werder Bremen in their previous game, and subsequently dropped to seventh in the league table.
Schalke will fancy their chances against Sandhausen as Alois Schwartz’s side have struggled so far this season. They are second from bottom in the league table.
Sandhausen were beaten by league leaders St. Pauli on the previous matchday and will hope to muster a better performance against Schalke.
A clash against Sandhausen, who have conceded two goals a game on average so far this season, is perhaps ideal for Schalke, who have been on a poor run of late.
Schalke vs Sandhausen Head-to-head
Both sides have squared off just twice, and Schalke have won both games. The previous meeting between them came in the DFB Pokal round of 16 in 2017, and Schalke comfortably won that game 4-1.
The last time Schalke hosted Sandhausen was way back in 2012, which also happened to be a cup game. Die Knappen won that tie 3-0.
Schalke form guide: W-L-L-L-D
Sandhausen form guide: D-D-W-L-L
Schalke vs Sandhausen Team News
Schalke
Darko Churlinov has a shoulder issue and was not able to train with the rest of the squad earlier this week. It remains to be seen if he will be fit to play a part come Saturday.
Salif Sane and Michael Langer have been ruled out as they continue to recover from their respective injuries.
Injured: Salif Sane, Michael Langer
Doubtful: Darko Churlinov
Suspended: None
Sandhausen
Daniel Keita-Ruel, Rick Wulle, Tim Kister, Arne Sicker and Julius Biada are all injured and not expected to play. Gianluca Gaudino is continuing to recover from COVID-19 and is unavailable.
Injured: Daniel Keita-Ruel, Rick Wulle, Tim Kister, Arne Sicker, Julius Biada
Unavailable: Gianluca Gaudino
Suspended: None
Schalke vs Sandhausen Predicted Lineups
Schalke Probable XI (3-1-4-2): Martin Fraisl; Marcin Kaminski, Mallick Thiaw, Ko Itakura; Victor Palsson; Thomas Ouwejan, Rodrigo Zalazar, Danny Latza, Mehmet Aydin; Marius Bulter, Simon Terodde
Sandhausen Probable XI (4-2-3-1): Patrick Drewes; Chima Okoroji, Aleksandr Zhirov, Immanuel Höhn, Dennis Diekmeier; Janik Bachmann, Erik Zenga; Alexander Esswein, Marcel Ritzmaier, Bashkim Ajdini; Pascal Testroet
Schalke vs Sandhausen Prediction
Schalke will need to step it up in the coming weeks as they cannot afford to drop too far behind in the race for promotion. They are still pretty close to the playoff spot, and we expect them to pick up a home win.
Prediction: Schalke 2-0 Sandhausen
