Relegation-threatened Werder Bremen will be looking to build on two positive results when they travel to an out-of-form Schalke 04 in the Bundesliga on Saturday afternoon.
Bremen, who occupy 17th spot in the table, have picked up four points from their last two matches, but Schalke have lost each of their three games since the Bundesliga resumed on May 16.
Match preview
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Schalke's search for their first Bundesliga win since the middle of January will continue this weekend, and there is no question that the club's supporters will be looking for their side to bounce back as soon as possible.
Not since a 2-0 success at home to Borussia Monchengladbach on January 17 have Schalke collected all three points in the league, while they have now lost five of their last six in Germany's top flight.
David Wagner's side played out a 1-1 draw with Hoffenheim before the Bundesliga was called to a halt in March, but Die Konigsblauen have lost each of their three matches since the action resumed on May 16.
Indeed, a 4-0 defeat to Borussia Dortmund was followed by a 3-0 reverse at home to Augsburg, before they suffered a 2-1 defeat at struggling Fortuna Dusseldorf on Wednesday night.
Schalke are still ninth in the table but have now fallen five points off sixth-placed Wolfsburg in the race for a Europa League spot, meaning that a positive result this weekend is vital.
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Bremen remain in a difficult position in the table, with a total of 22 points from 27 matches leaving them 17th position, six points behind 15th-placed Mainz 05.
Florian Kohfeldt's side have a game in hand over every side in the division other than Eintracht Frankfurt, though, and have picked up four points from their last two matches.
Indeed, a 1-0 success over Freiburg on May 23 was followed by a goalless draw at home to Borussia Monchengladbach on Tuesday night, which could be two big results in their fight for survival.
Bremen's game in hand against Frankfurt is next Wednesday, and a positive result against Schalke in this match would lead them nicely into what is a six-pointer at the bottom of the table.
Die Werderaner have not operated outside of the Bundesliga since the 1980-81 campaign, but the team are certainly in a battle to secure their top-flight status this season.
Schalke Bundesliga form: LLDLLL
Schalke form (all competitions): LLDLLL
Werder Bremen Bundesliga form: LLDLWD
Werder Bremen form (all competitions): LLDLWD
Team News
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Schalke will again be without the services of Omar Mascarell and Benjamin Stambouli through injury, but Amine Harit and on-loan Barcelona centre-back Jean-Clair Todibo could both return to the starting XI.
Ozan Kabak made his return from a back injury against Dusseldorf during the week, but Todibo could be handed a spot in the first XI after featuring late on in the same match.
Suat Serdar is also a doubt, meaning that Rabbi Matondo could keep his spot.
As for Bremen, Claudio Pizarro, Omer Toprak, Niclas Fullkrug and Kevin Mohwald are still on the sidelines through injury, but Ludwig Augustinsson is in contention to feature.
Liverpool-linked Milot Rashica is once again expected to operate on the left of a front three, while former Everton midfielder Davy Klaassen should keep his spot in the middle of the park.
There could be changes from the draw on Tuesday, though, with Leonardo Bittencourt and Fin Bartels both in contention to start, while Philipp Bargfrede is available again following a suspension.
Schalke possible starting lineup:
Schubert; Nastasic, Todibo, Sane; Kenny, McKennie, Schopf, Oczipika; Matondo, Burgstaller, Caliguiri
Werder Bremen possible starting lineup:
Pavlenka; Gebre Selassie, Veljkovic, Moisander, Freidl; Klaassen, Eggestein, Bartels; Rashica, Sargent, Bittencourt
We say: Schalke 1-1 Werder Bremen
Schalke have really struggled since the return of Bundesliga action, and it is therefore difficult to back the hosts with any real confidence despite Bremen's issues this season. The visitors have actually won on their last two trips to Schalke in the league, but we fancy a low-scoring draw on Saturday afternoon.
Matt Law
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Schalke 04 win with a probability of 41.84%. A win for Werder Bremen had a probability of 33.46% and a draw had a probability of 24.7%.
The most likely scoreline for a Schalke 04 win was 2-1 with a probability of 8.89%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-0 (8.55%) and 2-0 (6.58%). The likeliest Werder Bremen win was 1-2 (7.81%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (11.55%). The actual scoreline of 0-1 was predicted with a 7.5% likelihood.
