Werder Bremen vs. Schalke 04 preview: Reis looking for first victory
Schalke will look to record their first win under Thomas Reis when they face fellow newly-promoted side Werder Bremen on Saturday.
Werder Bremen
Bremen head into the weekend in ninth place with only one point separating them from the top six.
After losing consecutive league games, Bremen returned to winning ways against Hertha BSC last weekend. With the contest seemingly heading to a goalless draw, Niclas Füllkrug scored an 85th-minute winner to guide his side to a 1-0 victory.
Bremen will now turn their attention to Saturday's home meeting with Schalke, and the hosts can draw inspiration from their recent head-to-head record after avoiding defeat in their last five games against Schalke in all competitions.
Although Ole Werner's side have been produced a number of late goals this season, they tend to start home games on the front foot. The hosts have scored six of their 11 home league goals within the opening 20 minutes, and they will be looking for another positive start on Saturday.
Team News
Felix Agu, Jean-Manuel Mbom and Dikeni Salifou are sidelined for Bremen with injury problems, while Lee Buchanan and Eren Dinkçi will miss out due to illness.
Schalke 04
Schalke will try to avoid a seventh consecutive defeat in all competitions when they face Bremen.
Last weekend, Die Königsblauen faced Freiburg in Reis' first game as Schalke head coach. Unfortunately for Reis, his tenure began with a defeat after Vincenzo Grifo netted a brace to wrap up a 2-0 win for Freiburg.
The defeat leaves Schalke at the foot of the Bundesliga table with only six points to their name after 12 league games. With five points separating Schalke from safety, Reis knows that he has his work cut to avoid relegation.
If they are to escape the bottom three then Schalke need to improve at both ends of the pitch. They have conceded at least two goals in their previous five league games, while they have scored only one goal in their last four matches in the Bundesliga.
Team News
Thomas Ouwejan and Marcin Kaminski are sidelined due to knee and calf problems respectively. The visitors will also be without the services Ibrahima Cissé, Rodrigo Zalazar, Sepp van den Berg and Leo Greiml.