Following the disappointing performance at Bay Arena, Schalke will be aiming to return to winning ways when they host Augsburg in the opening match of Gameweek 10.

The Fuggerstadter climbed to the top half of the standings as they beat Freiburg at home, but they hope to end a three-match losing run on the road.

Schalke have experienced all sorts of problems in the early exchanges, and they needed seven games to record the first win of the campaign.

Even if their Champions League showings were far from impressive, the Miners did well to take five points from first three group matches, but they have yet to kick-start their Bundesliga campaign.

Schalke currently sit in 12th position having won just three of nine league fixtures, and nobody was too surprised to see coach Jens Keller get the boot.

His replacement Roberto Di Matteo enjoyed a bright start, leading his team to wins over Hertha and Sporting Lisbon, but it’s now back to the drawing board after the 1-0 loss to Bayer Leverkusen.

But, with their next opponents largely struggling on the travels, the Miners can be backed at 1.95 (19/20) to return to winning ways.

Kevin-Prince Boateng and Joel Matip are both rated doubtful, while Jefferson Farfan remains a long-term casualty.

Probable starting line-up (4-2-3-1): Fahrmann – Uchida, Howedes, Ayhan, Aogo – Hoger, Neustadter – Choupo-Moting, Meyer, Draxler – Huntelaar.

Augsburg have been showing amazing progress ever since the club secured their first ever promotion to Bundesliga in 2011 and they largely impressed last term to achieve a top 8 finish.

Their excellent displays came at a cost as a number of key players left for greener pastures in the summer, but the club managed to sign some pretty good replacements.

Augsburg quickly recovered from three straight defeats at the start of the season, going on to win three of next four league matches.

And while the Fuggerstadter have been quite impressive on home soil, they experienced plenty of problems on the road, losing their last three away matches.

Even if those were all narrow defeats, Augsburg clearly face an uphill task against very good Schalke side at Veltins Arena.

Alexander Esswein ended his injury nightmare by returning into action last weekend, but Ronny Philp is out injured.

Probable starting line-up (4-2-3-1): Hitz – Verhaegh, Callsen-Bracker, Klavan, Baba – Baier, Kohr – Bobadilla, Halil Altintop, Esswein – Matavz.