Schalke 04 vs VfB Stuttgart Betting Tips and Predictions

Schalke 04 will have just 2 days rest between Thursday evening’s first leg of the Europa league round of 16 as visitors to Shakhtar Donetsk and Sundays game against Stuttgart. They will also be without captain central defender Benedikt Höwedes as they try to bounce back from last Friday’s 2-1 loss to Mainz 05.

Stuttgart will begin the day 5 points and 6 places worse off than Shalke 04, but will prove to be a challenge to the home side. Stuttgart have won 4 from 4 in 2016 since the Bundesliga has recommenced after the winter break (something not even league leaders Bayern Munich have managed) and are currently the team with the longest undefeated run in the Bundesliga having won the previous 5 and drawn 2.

REASON FOR BETTING TIPS

With 4 wins from 4 and 11 goals scored, Stuttgart are enjoying their best ever start to the 2nd half of a Bundesliga season and show no signs of slowing. Whereas, Schalke’s high league position can be largely attributed to their impressive start to the season and not so much their recent form. Since Jürgen Kramny was appointed the new manager of Stuttgart in December, Stuttgart have averaged 2.1 points per game and with Schalke 04 also having a mid week Europa league fixture to play just 3 days before Sunday’s game the analysis indicates that Stuttgart will continue their 7 game unbeaten streak and leave the Veltins Arena with at least a point (Draw or VfB Stuttgart to Win). Given the goal scoring form of Stuttgart (14 goals in 5 games) a correct score prediction of 2-1 at 11/1 for VfB Stuttgart seems likely.

RECENT FORM

All competitions, most recent first:
Schalke 04: LWWLLL
VfB Stuttgart: WLWWWW

Head-To-Head

Schalke 04 won the fixture between the 2 teams 1-0 earlier this season in Stuttgart resulting in a fifth straight defeat for Stuttgart at this point in the season.

Statistics

VfB Stuttgart have averaged 2.1 points since December and over all previous meetings between the clubs Stuttgart have won or drawn 61.5% of the time.

Schalke 04: missing captain and world cup winning central defender Benedikt Höwedes along with bench warming defender Nastasic and midfielder Höger.

Stuttgart: missing starting defender Baumgarti and infrequently used centre forward Ginczek and unused defender Barba.

Looking for Accumulator tips? See what our experts are tipping today and follow the smart money.