Gladbach to host winless Schalke as Bundesliga returns

The Bundesliga returns after the international break with Schalke heading to Monchengladbach on Saturday evening.

Domenico Tedesco’s Schalke have lost both of their first two matches this season — against Wolfsburg and Hertha Berlin — but will be looking for an upturn in fortunes at Borussia Park when they face Borussia Monchengladbach on Saturday.

Gladbach beat Bochum 2-1 at home on matchday 1, before drawing away at Augsburg just prior to the international break, taking four points from a possible six so far.

Schalke might have one eye on their Champions League group match at home to Porto, which comes just three days after this clash, but they really need to get off the mark in the Bundesliga sooner rather than later.

Gladbach, meanwhile, are not in any European competition this season and are able to focus on qualifying for at least the Europa League for next year.

Key battles

Gladbach summer signing Alassane Plea, a French forward from Nice, will see himself tested against Naldo and Salif Sane, two key members of Schalke’s backline. He has scored once since signing from the Ligue 1 side and will be looking to add to that tally having cost around €23 million.

Raffael and Thorgan Hazard should be Gladbach’s front players alongside Plea, offering trickery and guile.

Gladbach’s midfield will contain Jonas Hofmann with Lars Stindl injured, with Tobias Strobl also likely to feature. They will face Schalke’s Nabil Bentaleb, formerly of Tottenham, who has excelled since moving to Germany.

Breel Embolo and Mark Uth are both big threats for Schalke, with pace, technique and goals. Uth was a particularly astute signing from Hoffenheim on a free transfer.

Yevhen Konoplyanka is suspended having been sent off in the last match for a foul in the fifth minute of added time. The Ukraine forward is a big player for Schalke and he will be a significant loss.

Previous meetings

These two sides are familiar foes, having faced each other four times last season in the Bundesliga and the Europa League last-16.

All of those matches were incredibly closely fought, with both league games finishing 1-1. Schalke progressed in the Europa League on away goals, drawing 1-1 at the Veltins Arena and 2-2 at Gladbach’s Borussia Park.

The season before last saw far more one-sided matches, with Schalke winning 4-0 at home, and Gladbach winning 4-2 when they were hosts.

Goals are almost guaranteed with only four clean sheets kept between the sides in the last 13 match-ups.