Schalke will be aiming to cement the second place in the standings when they take on Werder Bremen, a team that are slowly climbing the Bundesliga standings after the slow start to the league campaign.

Club chiefs made sure to keep the momentum going following a very promising season, with several high-profile signings seriously improving the quality of the squad.

As a result, the Miners enjoyed a great start to the season, climbing to second in Bundesliga, while moving to the top of their Champions League group.

Huub Stevens’ side did suffer a small dip in form of late, with 3-2 defeat to Hoffenheim ending their five-match winning run, but the players can take heart from the 2-2 draw with Arsenal, given they came from two goals behind to earn a valuable point.

The Miners are now expected to return to winning ways, with SkyBet paying 1.50 (1/2) on Veltins Arena outfit.

With both Uchida and Hoger sidelined through injury, captain Benedikt Howedes is expected to move to the right side of defence.

Probable starting line-up (4-2-3-1): Unnerstall – Howedes, Papadopoulos, Matip, Fuchs – Neustadter, Jones – Farfan, Holtby, Afellay – Huntelaar.

Werder Bremen have been largely struggling to reach their potential over the last few years, and with the squad undergoing major changes in the summer, the club were predicted another difficult season.

The club chiefs did sign some very good replacements for Pizarro, Wiese, Naldo, Marin and Rosenberg, but the team, nonetheless, picked up just 7 points from first 7 games.

As the new players slowly started to gel, Werder’s showings began to improve, with Thomas Schaaf’s men picking up another seven points from next three fixtures.

The players are now brimming with confidence, but odds of 7.00 (6/1) offered by BetVictor on away win suggest the Weserstadion outfit are in for a tough task.

Sokratis Papastathopoulos and Sebastian Prodl are back in contention, but Clemens Fritz misses out through injury.

Probable starting line-up (4-1-4-1): Mielitz – Gebre Selassie, Prodl, Sokratis, Schmitz – Junuzovic – Arnautovic, De Bruyne, Hunt, Elia – Petersen.