1899 Hoffenheim - FC Schalke 04

After a disappointing last season Hoffenheim is doing better this one. Coach Gisdol has formed a good and well balanced team without some of their old guys like Wiese, Braafeid, Delpierre and some others. They are not longer welcome as the Gisdol counts more on young and hungry players and success proves him right at the moment. They are unbeaten at home and they were always able to create and score a lot in their 3 matches so far. Of course they won only one of them but they scored in every match twice or more. This is a sign for their excellent offensive power this season. On the other side they have to solve the defensive mistakes and play more compact as they did in the past home matches. Maybe they did one step against Cottbus in Cup with a 0-0 after 90 minutes but the offense has suffered thereby. Therefore they had to play Extra time but advanced easy in the end. Maybe Coach Gisdol has to find the right balance between defensive and offensive to bring his team one or more steps forward. But overall they play well and are hard to beat this season.

After a bad start Schalke was on a better way with two wins in a row but fall back to old style and were absolutely chanceless against giant Bayern Munich. They were totally outplayed in their Arena and had only 30% ball possession. Additional they created less, only in the first 15-20 minutes they showed the better side of them. What is hard for them at the moment that they are conceding to many goals after corners or free kicks. A major weakness in their defensive play although experienced players are there. Under the week they had to play the Cup game against lower division team SV Darmstadt 98 and after some problems they advanced with a 3-1 win. It was not such clear as the result show. It was absolutely hard work for Schalke who played without a lot of regulars. They had around 8 players not available for this match. The newest injured players were Boateng and Draxler, both were missed extremely and it was seen in their play as well. The others are Huntelaar, Fuchs, Papadopolous, Kolasinac (back in training but not ready yet), Obasi and Annan. Of course the medical staff will do all that both Draxler (a big doubt and of course miss this game) and Boateng can play against 1899. They are very important anyway and needed from Coach Keller as only Farfan was an active Point in Cup. Youngster Maier of course did his job but he need still some time.

Schalke seeks for higher ambitions but confirmation is lacking so far this season. Because of average performances this season they have to improve a lot whether in offensive or defensive. I am very sure that Schalke want to try to control this match and invest more as Hoffenheim, they are more a team who attack but this can be the key advantage for 1899 and their play. They have a lot of good and fast players in their rows who love when they have a lot of space and can play on counter attacks. Schalke’s defensive is very shaky and Hoffenheim was always able to score this season and against Schalke, therefore I expect a close match here and I am not sure if Schalke is favorite here. Every time Schalke was traded as favorite but have never won for several years there. I go again with the stats here and trust 1899 at home soil.

Recommend Bet: 1899 Hoffenheim AHC +0,25 @ 1,75 (3 Units)