Schalke vs RB Leipzig
Germany – Bundesliga
Date: Saturday, 6 February 2021
Kick-off at 14:30 UK/ 15:30 CET
Venue: Veltins Arena (Gelsenkirchen).
Schalke 04 and Leipzig, the two teams with entirely different ambitions in the remainder of the season, face each other at Veltins Arena on Matchday 20.
Schalke have slim chances of securing the Bundesliga survival, but the hope dies last.
Die Knappen did well to hold Werder Bremen to a draw at the weekend, but they will have a much bigger fish to fry in Saturday’s football match.
The likes of Ludewig, Paciencia, Sane, Ronnow, and Skrzybski are all likely to miss the game with injuries.
The Red Bulls, on the other hand, aim to keep their Bundesliga hopes alive as they are seven points behind league leaders Bayern Munchen in the standings.
This has to go down as a must-win game for the title-chasing side, and we predict that they will take advantage of Schalke’s shaky defence.
It has to be noted that Leipzig boss Julian Nagelsmann can count on key players for Saturday’s match.
Schalke vs RB Leipzig Head-to-head (h2h)
Teams Schalke 04 RasenBallsport Leipzig played so far 9 matches.
Schalke 04 won 2 direct matches. RasenBallsport Leipzig won 5 matches. 2 matches ended in a draw. On average in direct matches both teams scored a 2.78 goals per Match.
Schalke vs RB Leipzig Prediction
Schalke 04 in actual season average scored 1.50 goals per match. In 14 (82.35%) matches played at home was total goals (team and opponent) Over 1.5 goals. In 10 (58.82%) matches in season 2021 played at home was total goals (team and opponent) Over 2.5 goals.
RasenBallsport Leipzig average scored 1.86 goals per match in season 2021. In 10 (71.43%) matches played away was total goals (team and opponent) Over 1.5 goals. In 7 (50.00%) matches played away team was total goals (team and opponent) Over 2.5 goals.
Team News:
Schalke are still missing a whole host of players through injury, with Can Bozdogan, Suat Serdar, Frederik Ronnow, Steven Skrzybski, Kilian Ludewig, Salif Sane and Goncalo Pacienca all unavailable.
Nabil Bentaleb is still effectively persona non grata at the club after his disciplinary issues in November, with Shkodran Mustafi perhaps having to wait for his first start having joined from Arsenal on transfer deadline day.
Leipzig, meanwhile, will travel to Schalke without Kevin Kampl, Dominik Szoboszlai, Emil Forsberg, Ibrahima Konate, Benjamin Henrichs and Konrad Laimer due to injury.
Nagelsmann is likely to shuffle the pack once more, with Yussuf Poulsen pushing for a start after his brace in the cup in midweek.
Schalke 04 possible starting lineup:
Fahrmann; Becker, Thiaw, Nastasic, Kolasinac; Mascarell, Stambouli; Schopf, Uth, Harit; Hoppe
RB Leipzig possible starting lineup:
Gulasci; Mukiele, Upamecano, Halstenberg; Adams, Sabitzer, Haidara, Angelino; Olmo, Nkunku; Sorloth