Schalke vs APOEL Betting Tips

Schalke started the season in very good form, winning eight of their first ten games in all competitions and losing just once.

However, they hit a bit of a rough patch back at the start of October, with a 3-0 home loss to Cologne seemingly destroying all their good work so far.

They have now won just once in their last nine games and come into this match against APOEL on the back of a seven match winless streak.

They have incurred losses against Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, and Borussia Monchengladbach twice during this spell, with two draws against Sparta Prague and a draw against Ingolstadt making up the rest of the results.

Despite this, they still top Europa League Group K with eight points from their opening four games, which gives them a two point advantage over 2^nd placed Sparta Prague and a four point advantage over Asteras Tripolis. A win on Thursday would be enough to guarantee them qualification to the knockout stages.

They really should be getting a win against APOEL though. The Cypriots come into this match after failing to win any of their last three matches, including a 2-0 away loss to Asteris Tripolis.

APOEL have lost three of their four Europa League group games this season, with their only salvation being a 2-1 home win against Asteris.

This gives them a faint hope of qualification to the knockout stages, with six points left to play for and three points lying between them and 2^nd placed Sparta Prague. But realistically they need a win at Schalke to keep this dream alive.

I think Schalke can get back to winning ways on Thursday, and I expect them to come out of the blocks fast to avoid letting APOEL sit back and frustrate them. Odds of 4/6 for a Schalke Win at HT/FT look really good value as well.