Having secured their place in the Champions League group stages, Schalke will be hoping to get their league campaign back on track as well.

Recording their first league win of the season will be no easy task given that Bayer Leverkusen arrive in Gelsenkirchen searching for their fourth successive triumph.

Three games into the new Bundesliga campaign and Schalke find themselves in the relegation zone, after winning just one point in the process.

Back to back defeats to Wolfsburg and Hannover created a poor atmosphere ahead of the Champions League play-off return leg against PAOK, especially given the 1-1 draw in the first match.

The Miners, nevertheless, managed to record a 3-2 victory in Greece to make it to Champions League group stages, where they were in turn pitted against Steaua Bucuresti, Basel and Chelsea.

Now it’s time for Jens Keller and his men to try and return to winning ways in the league, and they are no less than 3.30 (23/10) at BetVictor to succeed in their quest.

The problem is key men continue to miss out, with Kyriakos Papadopoulos, Klaas Jan Huntelaar, Anthony Annan, Sead Kolasinac and Chinedu Obasi still sidelined through injury.

On top of that, Benedikt Howedes and Christian Fuchs are banned for this clash, so it was definitely a good thing the club managed to bring in Dennis Aogo from Hamburg this week.

Probable starting line-up (4-2-3-1): Hildebrand – Uchida, Matip, Santana, Aogo – Hoger, Jones – Farfan, Draxler, Clemens – Szalai.

It was the five-match winning run during season finale that saw Bayer Leverkusen comfortably secure third-place finish last term, and they have picked up where they left off.

Buoyed by some shrewd summer signings, die Werkself enjoyed a winning start to the league campaign, defeating Freiburg, Stuttgart and Borussia M’gladbach to become one of just three Bundesliga sides yet to drop points this season.

Away fixture against Schalke is likely to prove their toughest test yet, but odds of 2.20 (6/5) offered at Sportingbet on away win clearly suggest who the favourites here are.

Last season’s league top goalscorer Stefan Kiessling has already bagged two goals in three appearances this season, and he is 2.60 (8/5) at Paddy Power to add to his tally at Veltins Arena.

With no fresh injuries to report, boss Sami Hyypia is unlikely to make major changes to his starting line-up, although Roberto Hilbert and Giulio Donati are vying for the right-back position.

Probable starting line-up (4-3-3): Leno – Hilbert, Toprak, Spahic, Boenisch – Bender, Reinartz, Castro – Sam, Kiessling, Son.

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