The opening match of the final round in German Bundesliga ahead of the winter break will see inconsistent Schalke take on revived Hoffenheim at Veltins Arena.

Despite starting the season strongly, the Miners are clearly paying the price for participating in Europa League, with their results pretty disappointing of late.

Schalke eventually did well to win the first place in their Europa League group, earning a clash with Shakhtar Donetsk, but their performances in the league leave a lot to be desired.

The Miners recovered from a five-match winless run to defeat Hannover at home, but then succumbed to a 2-1 loss to Augsburg, slipping to eighth in the standings.

This means that they need to defeat Hoffenheim if they want to enjoy their winter break, with home win paying 1.70 (7/10) at Betfred.

Full-back Dennis Aogo again looks set to miss out through a hamstring problem, with AS Roma target Sead Kolasinac ready to deputize.

Meanwhile, Fabien Giefer, Felipe Santana, Matija Nastasic, Atsuto Uchida and Marco Hoger are not yet ready to leave the treatment room.

Probable starting line-up (4-2-3-1): Fahrmann – Junior, Howedes, Matip, Kolasinac – Geis, Goretzka – Sane, Meyer, Choupo-Moting – Huntelaar.

TSG Hoffenheim have been exceeding expectations ever since they gained promotion to the Bundesliga in 2008, but things are not looking good this term.

Huub Stevens’ charges currently sit deep in the relegation zone, although the good news is they have finally ended the barren run of results.

Having had recorded just one win in first 15 league fixtures, Hoffenheim defeated fellow strugglers Hannover to make it two wins in 16, and they are now just one point adrift of safety.

They now need to try and extend the promising run at Veltins Arena, which is not going to be an easy task, given their 1-3-4 away record.

Coach Huub Stevens is sweating over the fitness of captain Pirmin Schwegler as he battles a thigh injury, with Eugen Polanski likely to replace him if needed.

There are no other fresh worries for the boss, although Kevin Kuranyi, Jens Grahl and Steven Zuber continue to miss out for the visitors.

Probable starting line-up (4-2-3-1): Baumann – Kaderabek, Schar, Sule, Kim – Strobl, Schwegler – Elyounoussi, Amiri, Schmid – Volland.