Schalke 04 vs. Werder Bremen preview: Die Königsblauen looking to boost survival hopes
Relegation-threatened Schalke 04 will be looking to claim three crucial points when they play host to Werder Bremen on Saturday.
Schalke 04
Schalke will have to pick themselves up for Saturday’s contest after they were thumped 4-0 by Freiburg last weekend. The disappointing result leaves Schalke languishing in the automatic relegation places with a one separating from the relegation playoff spot, while they are three points adrift of safety altogether.
After losing on their travels last time out, Thomas Reis' side will return to the Veltins-Arena where they have the chance to claim consecutive home victories after beating Hertha BSC 5-2 in their most recent home fixture.
Having picked up 16 points from their 15 league games at the Veltins-Arena, Schalke currently shares the joint-worst home record in the Bundesliga with Stuttgart and Werder Bremen. However, they can take confidence from the fact that they have lost just one of their last six home league games.
Team News
The hosts will be unable to call upon the services of Tim Skarke and Soichiro Kozuki due to ankle issues. Eder Balanta, Cedric Brunner, Ralf Fährmann and Justin Heekeren are also ruled out through injury.
Werder Bremen
Bremen ended a six-game winless run last Saturday when they claimed a 4-2 away victory over struggling Hertha BSC. Marvin Ducksch scored a hat-trick to put his side in the driving seat before Mitchell Weiser added a fourth. Hertha managed to add a degree of respectability to the scoreline with Jessic Nganjam and Dodi Lukebakio getting on the scoresheet.
Although Bremen may have been disappointed to concede two goals for the seventh straight game, they would have been pleased to record their first win since February.
With five games to go, Ole Werner’s side will be satisfied to be in 12th position after winning promotion to the top flight last season. Realistically, Bremen can still finish as high as 10th place, and they will be keen to finish the season with a positive run of results.
Having won their last six competitive away games against Schalke, Bremen will be confident that they can claim all three points on Saturday.
Team News
Niclas Füllkrug will miss a third consecutive game due to a calf problem, and the visitors will also be without the services of Felix Agu and Milos Veljkovic.
In more positive news, Marvin Ducksch and Niklas Schmidt have recovered from illness and will be available for Saturday’s encounter.