Schalke to end winless run
Schalke come into Sunday hoping to rebound after a thrashing at the hands of rivals Borussia Dortmund last weekend. Can they improve against struggling Augsburg? Have a read of our preview here:
That’s gotta hurt
The long-anticipated return of the Bundesliga turned out to be a bit of a nightmare for Schalke as they had their backsides handed to them by their title-chasing rivals Borussia Dortmund.
The 4-0 defeat was hard to take for the side from Gelsenkirchen as they had to watch an absolutely ruthless attacking display from their rivals. They were cut to shreds by the strength of Erling Haaland, the pace of Thorgan Hazard and the overall movement of both full-backs with Raphael Guerreiro grabbing a brace.
It means Schalke have not won since January, a run of eight games which has seen them lose four and draw four.
To bounce back from that defeat will be hard but Schalke can take some heart from the performance (I’m being serious). They created three chances to Dortmund’s five but a lack of cutting edge saw their opponents heap on the misery.
They need to play with more discipline in defence. They were more open than a football stadium in Oxford at times and didn’t make their opponents work nearly hard enough for their goals.
Amine Harit is a quality player and will do a lot of damage against a side less dominant than Dortmund.
They should also get more from Bastian Oczipka who is usually an excellent outlet on the flank while Jonjoe Kenny remains on loan from Everton.
Augsburg are really struggling, and Schalke should really take advantage.
Are Augsburg safe?
Augsburg have not won a game since the February 01 and will be thanking their lucky stars there are three teams with worse records than them in the Bundesliga this season.
The restart saw no change to their luck as they lost at home to Wolfsburg 2-1 with the away side netting the winner in second-half stoppage time.
The points gap between them and the relegation places stands at four which does not give them much wiggle room should their poor run of results continue.
They have now gone six games without a win, losing five, scoring just four and conceding a worrying 15 in that run.
This is a side who will be hoping the season ends sooner rather than later.
Schalke v Augsburg betting tip
After a complete humiliation at the hands of their rivals last weekend, you’d expect Schalke to be highly motivated to put that result behind them straight away. Given Augsburg’s poor form this could be the time the side from Gelsenkirchen break their own dismal run, so we are backing Schalke to win at odds of 2.1 with Betway.
Post bet chat James's Tips:
Schalke's problems increased with a 3-0 drubbing here