Schalke vs Hannover 96 Predictions

Schalke’s season only really got started in October after August and September brought five consecutive defeats to Wolfsburg, Hertha Berlin, Gladbach, Bayern, and Freiburg in the league. And even though Domenico Tedesco’s side have lost just one of their last six competitively (W3 D2 L1), they still look just a shadow of their former selves. A 0-0 draw away to RB Leipzig last weekend was not a bad result on paper, but when coupled with their 0-0 draw away to Galatasaray in the Champions League and a 2-0 defeat at home to Werder Bremen in the Bundesliga before that we see a very clear pattern: Schalke are struggling for goals and need to sort that out fast! Wednesday’s DFB Pokal second round match at home to Cologne was at least an opportunity to work on that against weaker opposition in a competitive setting.

Hannover 96 are out of the German cup after their 2-0 defeat at home to Wolfsburg on Tuesday, but that could be considered a positive for coach Andre Breitenreiter – at least it looked that way with the North Germans resting a few key players. He can now put his full focus on survival, which is a big project following last weekend’s 2-1 defeat at home to Augsburg, a result that saw Hannover fall down to the relegation play-off spot (16th) and mark their worst start to a top-flight campaign for 30 years. Caoch Breitenreiter could, therefore, look to mix things up this weekend with attacking midfielder Florent Muslija coming into the starting line up – he has just one top flight start to his name but could offer something new in the middle. Loanee Bobby Wood is expected to continue supporting star forward Niclas Fullkrug up front, who was the third highest scoring player in the league last season.

Betting-wise the value for us looks to be in goals at both ends as Hannover’s style of play should have a big influence on the outcome of this match. Despite having one of the worst defensive records in the Bundesliga – 18 goals conceded, an average of two goals per game – the North Germans actually hold one of the best offenses in the bottom half of the league too – a good starter for goals at both ends. Schalke, meanwhile, are not the sturdy defensive unit they once were and have kept clean sheets in just one of their four home matches so far this season… so if anything the question looks to be more to be if Schalke can find a goal than if Hannover can. And with no team in the Bundesliga holding a more ‘unlucky’ expected goals scored record than Schalke – Schalke have scored just five as opposed to the ten that was expected – we feel the timing is right for them to turn around – ie, against Hannover’s weak defense.

How many goals is another question though. And with Hannover having conceded a whopping 11 goals over their four away matches in 2018/19 – in fact, the North Germans are on a 21-game wait for a Bundesliga clean sheet on the road – we feel that Schalke should be capable of getting a few. Schalke clearly have some capable attacking talent in forwards Guido Burgstaller (11 goals in 32 last season) and Mark Uth (14 goals in 31 last season) and it’s just hard to see them being kept at bay once against Hannover. However, with the visitors absolutely capable of getting a goal themselves, this should be a more exciting and closer affair than it first appears. Schalke are, however, the side that will feel that this is the greater opportunity to get back on track, and ultimately we feel like this is a good opportunity for them to get a result. Our prediction: 2-1 Schalke.