Schalke vs Hertha Berlin Prediction, Betting Tips & Preview

Preview

Haydn Cunningham Oct 12, 2015 @ 02:25 pm

3^rd v 4^th is the biggest spectacle in German football this weekend and Schalke 04’s ruthless 6 game winning streak was brought to an end in brutal fashion by FC Koln who came away from the Veltins-Arena with all 3 points in a 3-0 victory. They had also kept 5 clean sheets in those 6 victories which makes the 3-0 defeat all the more surprising. The Schalke 04 fans were disappointed with the defeat but knew the run had to come to an end at some point but their frustrations boiled over as some of their supporters are planning to boycott next month’s derby with neighbours Borussia Dortmund. Dortmund have reduced the ticket allocation for Schalke 04 fans to 6,500 from 8,000 which has angered many of them.

Despite an opening day victory on their travels against struggling Augsburg, Hertha BSC have gained just 1 point away from home since. They’ve picked up 10 of their 14 Bundesliga points at home and will need to become tactically more aware if they want to maintain a place in the top 6 which would mark a very good season for them. In Salomon Kalou and Vedad Ibisevic they have 2 forwards who are experienced and have a wealth of experience in Europe and have scored 7 goals between them in the league.

On top of their poor form away from home, Hertha BSC don’t particular cope very well at Schalke 04 either and have won just 3 times out of 30 when playing at the Veltins-Arena. Their last win at Schalke 04 was back in 2004 and they’re also winless against their opponents Saturday in 13 attempts. Clearly Hertha BSC have improved immensely this season under Pal Dardai who spent 14 years as a player at Hertha before getting the job in the summer of 2015 after earning the promotion from youth team coach. He won the DFB-Ligapokal twice at the club and will be looking to bring the success he had as a player to the current group of players.

Per Ciljan Skjelbred could bring Hertha BSC bad news as he picked up an injury in Norway’s victory over Malta on Saturday night. Norway face Italy in their final Euro 2016 qualifier and Dardai will be hoping Norway take no chances with their central midfielder who has featured in all 8 of their Bundesliga games. Niklas Stark also came off after 24 minutes in Hertha’s win over FC Koln but is expected to have recovered. Schalke 04’s Cameroonian duo Joel Matip and Eric Maxime-Choupo Mouting missed Cameroon’s friendly with Nigeria and are likely to be missing.

Schalke 04

Stats: W-5 L-2 D-1

Recent Form - WWWWL

Hertha BSC

Stats: W-4 L-2 D-2

Recent Form – WLWDW

Head-to-head record:

Possible Line-ups

Schalke 04 (4-4-2) – Fahrmann, Junior Caicara, Neustadter, Howedes, Aogo, Sane, Geis, Goretzka, Meyer, Di Santo, Hunterlaar.

Hertha BSC (4-4-2) – Jarstein, Lustenberger, Stark, Weiser, Plattenhardt, Haraguchi, Cigerci, Darida, Skjelbred, Ibisevic, Kalou.

Injury List/Suspended Players

Schalke 04 – Matip (inj), Mouting (inj), Sam (inj), Hoger (inj), Nastastic (inj), Uchida (inj), Santana (inj).
Hertha BSC – Ronny (inj), Kraft (inj), Langkamp (inj), Beerens (inj), Pekarik (inj), Brooks (inj).

League Positions