Elversberg will be hoping for a repeat of their last result, following the 3-4 Bundesliga 2 triumph versus St. Pauli.
In that game, Elversberg had 31% possession and 14 shots on goal with 10 of them on target. For Elversberg, the scorers were Maurice Neubauer (51\'), Joseph Boyamba (70\'), Paul Wanner (81\') and Hugo Vandermersch (83\'). For their opponents, St. Pauli got 17 attempts at goal with 8 on target. Johannes Eggestein (39\'), Marcel Hartel (69\') and Jackson Irvine (93\') scored for St. Pauli.
Fixtures with Elversberg have tended to be lively affairs recently with high scoring expected. Over their past half dozen games alone, a total of 22 goals have been recorded for both sides combined (at an average of 3.67 goals per game) with 8 of these belonging to Elversberg.
Ahead of this clash, Elversberg have not won at home in their last 3 league games.
Schalke will go into this encounter following on from a 2-0 Bundesliga 2 win with the eclipse of Nuremberg in their previous game.
In that match, Schalke managed 43% possession and 22 shots on goal with 7 of them on target. For Schalke, goals were scored by Kenan Karaman (42\') and Paul Seguin (86\'). Nurnberg had 18 shots on goal with 7 of them on target.
Proving their bias toward productive encounters, we’ve had goals 21 times in the previous 6 games in which Schalke have taken to the pitch, making it a mean average of 3.5 goals for each meeting. Their opponents have got 10 of these goals. With no two games being the same, it remains to be seen whether that trend will be replicated in this next game.
Head to head
The previous league clash between these sides was Bundesliga 2 match day 13 on 10/11/2023 when it finished Schalke 1-2 Elversberg.
That day, Schalke managed 55% possession and 23 shots on goal with 4 of them on target. Their only player to score was Kenan Karaman (35\').
At the other end, Elversberg got 13 shots at goal with 6 of them on target. Paul Stock (7\') and Jannik Rochelt (21\') scored.
The match was refereed by Martin Petersen.
Team News: Elversberg
Arne Sicker (Ligament injury), Marcel Correia (Cruciate ligament tear), Frederik Jäkel (Cruciate ligament tear) and Patryk Dragon (Knee surgery) are not available for Elversberg boss Horst Steffen.
It seems likely that Elversberg will probably kick off with a 4-2-3-1 formation for this one and select Nicolas Kristof, Hugo Vandermersch, Carlo Sickinger, Florian Le Joncour, Maurice Neubauer, Paul Stock, Robin Fellhauer, Manuel Feil, Paul Wanner, Jannik Rochelt and Luca Schnellbacher.
Team News: Schalke
Schalke manager Karel Geraerts has not got a full squad to pick from. Assan Ouédraogo (Adductor pain), Leo Greiml (Cruciate ligament tear) and Cédric Brunner (Knee problems) can’t be considered. The players ineligible for this match because of suspension are Dominick Drexler and Timo Baumgartl.
We believe Schalke will likely begin the game with a 4-3-1-2 formation, choosing Marius Müller, Henning Matriciani, Tomas Kalas, Marcin Kaminski, Derry John Murkin, Yusuf Kabadayi, Paul Seguin, Thomas Ouwejan, Kenan Karaman, Simon Terodde and Keke Topp.
Prediction
We’re thinking that Schalke and Elversberg should both be able to score more than once here although it’s hard to pick a clear winner.
It’s looking like it could well end up as a draw but we do expect to see goals at each end. We’re therefore seeing a great battle with a 2-2 draw at the end of the 90 minutes.
