Schalke 04 vs. Stuttgart preview: Will Schalke's goalless run continue?
After being involved in four consecutive goalless draws, Schalke will be hoping to aid their survival bid by claiming all three points when they face Stuttgart on Saturday.
| Thomas Reis | FC Schalke 04 |
Schalke 04
Schalke became the first side in Bundesliga history to play out four consecutive goalless draws after frustrating title-chasing Union Berlin last weekend. While Thomas Reis will be pleased with his team's defensive resilience, his side will need to start converting draws into victories if they are to avoid relegation.
They are currently propping up the Bundesliga table, with six points separating them safety. Without a league win since November 9, Schalke may be hopeful of ending their barren spell against Stuttgart, having fared well in recent meetings with Saturday's opponents. Die Königsblauen are unbeaten in their last six home Bundesliga games against Stuttgart, which have resulted in three victories and three draws.
No side has scored fewer goals than Schalke in the Bundesliga this season. After registering just 14 goals in 21 league games, Reis will be keen to see an improvement from his side in the final third.
Team News
Schalke will have to contend with a lengthy injury list, which includes, Cedric Brunner, Soichiro Kozuki, Tim Skarke, Tobias Mohr. Thomas Ouwejan, Jere Uronen and Sepp van den Berg are also expected to be absent.
Long-term absentees Sebastian Polter and Justin Heekeren will miss the rest of the season, while there are also doubts over the availability of Marcin Kaminski and
Danny Latza.
Stuttgart
After enduring a six-game winless league run, Stuttgart finally ended their long wait for a victory last weekend. Goals from Gil Dias, Borna Sosa and Tanguy Coulibaly helped Die Schwaben claim a comfortable 3-0 win over FC Köln, representing the first league victory of Bruna Labaddia's second spell in charge.
Stuttgart sit just outside the bottom three on goal difference, and while they will be aiming to move further away from the drop zone this weekend, their away form does not inspire confidence.
Die Schwaben have not won a Bundesliga game on the road since beating Wolfsburg 2-0 in December 2021. Since that result, they have gone 20 away league matches without recording a victory. In fact, Schalke and Stuttgart are the only teams yet to win a Bundesliga away game this season.
Their backline has proven to be vulnerable on their travels, after conceding at least two goals in each of their last eight away league encounters.
Team News
Stuttgart are unable to call upon the services of Pascal Stenzel and Serhou Guirassy due to injury issues.