Fresh from some very good showings in pre-season, Schalke aim to start the new Bundesliga campaign with a bang as they play host to Hamburg.

The Red Shorts were not that impressive in warm-up games, but they have enough potential to surprise their rivals in the opening match of the season.

Despite experiencing all sorts of problems along the way, Schalke ultimately managed to secure the final Champions League berth last term, and they probably wouldn’t mind another top 4 finish.

To ensure the team have the best possible chance of staying close to Bayern and Borussia, the club chiefs had conducted some excellent business in the summer transfer window.

The Miners have signed three extremely talented players in Adam Szalai, Leon Goretzka and Christian Clemens, while adding few more footballers to increase competition for places.

As a result, Jens Keller’s men produced some very good displays in pre-season, before recording a 2-0 victory over Nottingen in the DFB Pokal.

With the hosts full of confidence at the moment, they look a good bet to see off Hamburg as well, as Coral pays 1.50 (1/2) on home win.

Kyriakos Papadopoulos, Chinedu Obasi and Anthony Annan are out injured, whereas 18-year-old could be in line for the first start in a Schalke shirt.

Probable starting line-up (4-2-3-1): Hildebrand – Hoger, Matip, Howedes, Fuchs – Jones, Goretzka – Farfan, Draxler, Clemens – Huntelaar.

For the first time after quite a while, Hamburg were able to put up a serious challenge for European places last term, but they eventually missed out on qualification by three points.

Having also suffered an early exit from DFB Pokal, the Red Shorts are determined to make things right this season, but I am not sure that will be possible.

While seeing star forward Heung-Min Son leave, Hamburg have signed the likes of Djourou, Scharner, Zoua and Sobiech, but these are hardly the players who can make a huge difference this term.

It was, therefore, not surprising to see Thorsten Fink’s men struggle during pre-season, although they did improve to record a 4-0 triumph over minnows Schott Jena in the DFB Pokal.

However, they now need to prove they have what it takes to mix it up with the best of them in Bundesliga, but odds of 7.50 (13/2) offered at Betfred on away win are enough to suggest the Red Shorts face an uphill task at Veltins Arena.

Johan Djourou, Paul Scharner, Ivo Ilicevic, Michael Mancienne and Zhi Gin Lam are out injured, while key attacker Artoms Rudnevs is doubtful with a bout of flu.

Probable starting line-up (4-2-3-1): Adler – Diekmeier, Sobiech, Westermann, Jansen – Badelj, Arslan – Beister, Van der Vaart, Jiracek – Rudnevs.

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