Schalke vs Borussia M’gladbach preview

February 5, 2015
By: Nemanja Lazarevic

Schalke vs GladbachHaving held Bayern Munich to a 1-1 draw at Alianz Arena, Schalke will be hoping to defeat top 4 rivals Borussia M’gladbach at home.

Die Fohlen recorded another narrow win to climb to third in the standings, and they are looking to sustain the challenge from the Miners in the race for Champions League positions.

Schalke did well to remain in the top 4 hunt after the first part of the league campaign despite the problems the team had encountered in the process.

The Miners started the New Year brightly, defeating Hannover at their Veltins Arena, but the win came at a cost as Klaas Jan Huntelaar was later slapped with a six-match ban for a reckless tackle on Manuel Schmiedebach.

The suspension was later changed to four matches, but the star striker is now set to miss games against Borussia, Eintracht and Werder.

Schalke defied the odds to bring one point from Alianz Arena in midweek, but they could have won the game, having missed an early penalty and played some 80 minutes with an extra man on the pitch.

The Miners hope to make things right against Gladbach and are available at 2.60 (8/5) to claim maximum points on Friday evening.

Selection problems continue to mount for coach Roberto Di Matteo, seeing that Fabian Gieffer suffered an injury in Munich and with first choice keeper Ralf Fahrmann also sidelined, youngster Timon Wellenreuther will have to deputize.

Probable starting line-up (3-5-2): Wellenreuther – Howedes, Matip, Nastasic – Uchida, Boateng, Neustadter, Meyer, Fuchs – Choupo-Moting, Sam.

Borussia M’gladbach have been on a major uptrend ever since Lucien Favre took over the reigns few years ago and they are again enjoying a very successful season.

Die Fohlen eased off to the Europa League knockout stages, while also qualifying for the DFB Pokal Last 16 stage, but the most important thing is their league campaign is going according to plan.

Borussia have managed to make amends for the costly defeat to Augsburg in the final fixture of 2014, having won both matches since the Bundesliga campaign resumed.

Back to back wins over Stuttgart and Freiburg saw die Fohlen climb to third in the league standings and they are now 1.91 (10/11) for a top 4 finish.

Important defender Martin Stranzl is expected to miss out through concussion, while Branimir Hrgota will again be preferred to Raffael up front.

Probable starting line-up (4-4-2): Sommer – Korb, Dominguez, Jantschke, Wendt – Herrmann, Kramer, Xhaka, Johnson – Hrgota, Kruse.

We Highly Recommend These Places
Share your Opinion!