With nothing but pride on the line for the hosts, already-relegated Schalke 04 prepare to take on Champions League-chasing Eintracht Frankfurt in Saturday's Bundesliga clash.
Dimitrios Grammozis's side lost 2-1 to Hertha Berlin in midweek, while Frankfurt's top-four aspirations suffered a blow with a 1-1 draw against Mainz 05 last week.
Match preview
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With no fewer than 15 players sidelined due to injury, suspension or coronavirus, Schalke were facing an uphill battle even before a ball was kicked against Hertha Berlin, but they did manage to draw first blood through Amine Harit's first Bundesliga goal since January.
However, Hertha were level by the 19-minute mark as Dedryck Boyata headed home to restore parity before half time, and Jessic Ngankam came off the bench to bag the winner as Schalke's efforts once again counted for nought.
One of the most dismal seasons in the club's 117-year history culminated in their relegation being confirmed last month, and they are certainly not finishing with a flourish either, with back-to-back defeats to Hoffenheim and Hertha both coming after their fate was sealed by Arminia Bielefeld.
The rarest of wins over Augsburg has been one of the only positive aspects of Schalke's 2021 so far, as Grammozis has been unable to inspire a rapid turnaround since his appointment as Die Konigsblauen prepare to finish rock bottom of the pile.
Schalke's only two league victories this season have come at home, though, and the basement side would dearly love to post another home win on the board before they bid farewell to the Bundesliga, but an unforeseen triumph this week would not do much to lift the spirits of the furious Konigsblauen faithful.
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Frankfurt's Champions League dream is not dead in the water just yet, but having taken just one point from their last two top-flight matches, a resurgent Borussia Dortmund are now primed to steal fourth spot from their grasp.
Adi Hutter's men were staring down the barrel of defeat against Mainz as Karim Onisiwo took just 11 minutes to open the scoring, and Frankfurt were indebted to substitute Ajdin Hrustic, who made the net ripple with just five minutes remaining to rescue a point for his side.
With only one win to boast from their last four attempts in the Bundesliga, Frankfurt have now slipped to fifth in the table - one point behind Dortmund in the final Champions League spot - but they should not be in any danger of being caught by Bayer Leverkusen, who are six points behind with two games remaining.
Frankfurt's Champions League destiny is now out of their own hands, and they travel to a hapless Schalke side boasting just one win from their last five on the road, failing to keep a clean sheet away from home since January - a run of eight Bundesliga matches on the road without a shut-out.
Hutter's men eased to a 3-1 win over Schalke at their home fortress earlier in the season, but the soon-to-be 2. Bundesliga outfit did manage to claim a 1-0 win in this fixture during the 2019-20 campaign.
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Team News
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Seven Schalke players were forced to sit out the Hertha game for COVID-related reasons, while the likes of Nabil Bentaleb, Matija Nastasic, Benjamin Stambouli, William and Omar Mascarell remain injured.
Mark Uth will return from suspension for Schalke's penultimate game of the season, but Sead Kolasinac - who set up Harit's opener in midweek - is banned for picking up his fifth yellow card of the season last time out.
Grammozis's hand will be largely forced in several areas due to the plethora of absentees in Schalke's ranks, with Benito Raman or the young Brooklyn Ezeh in contention to feature in Kolasinac's absence.
Meanwhile, Frankfurt lost Sebastian Rode to an adductor injury in the first half against Mainz, and with the midfielder reportedly training individually for most of this week, he may not be ready to take to the pitch on Saturday.
Stefan Ilsanker could enjoy a run-out if Rode is not passed fit, and Tuta should shake off fitness concerns of his own to feature, but Almamy Toure and Ragnar Ache are definitely out with muscle and ligament issues respectively.
The visitors will welcome Evan N'Dicka back from a ban this week too, meaning that Makoto Hasebe's spot in defence may be at risk.
Despite failing to find the back of the net against Mainz, Andre Silva set up Hrustic for his side's equaliser, which took him up to 33 goal contributions (25 goals, eight assists) from 30 games this season.
Schalke 04 possible starting lineup:
Fahrmann; Oczipka, Mustafi, Sane; Schopf, Harit, Flick, Raman; Uth; Hoppe, Paciencia
Eintracht Frankfurt possible starting lineup:
Trapp; Tuta, Hinteregger, N'Dicka; Durm, Sow, Ilsanker, Kostic; Kamada; Silva, Jovic
We say: Schalke 04 0-3 Eintracht Frankfurt
The sooner this season ends for Schalke the better, as the league's basement side continue to fall short almost every weekend and must look at how to rebuild from the 2021-22 season onwards.
Frankfurt have not been able to replicate their remarkable home form on the road throughout the season, but they should be too strong for Schalke as they bid to keep their Champions League hopes alive.
Top tip
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 Eintracht Frankfurt win with a probability of 59.06%. A draw had a probability of 21.8% and a win for Schalke 04 had a probability of 19.14%.
The most likely scoreline for a Eintracht Frankfurt win was 0-1 with a probability of 10.26%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-2 (9.95%) and 0-2 (9.92%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (10.29%), while for a Schalke 04 win it was 1-0 (5.33%). The actual scoreline of 4-3 was predicted with a 0.3% likelihood.
