Schalke 04 v Hannover 96
Veltins Arena
Saturday, 28th August 2010 – kickoff 15:30

Schalke 04

Last weekend Schalke 04 lost to Hamburger SV 2-1 which was their first loss in the opening day fixture in the last five seasons. It is a bad sign as it was second defeat for the team in their last three competitive Bundesliga matches. Not only that but the team finished the match against Hamburger SV with ten players after the defender Benedikt Howedes was sent off after his second yellow card for a tackle.

Hamburger SV were dominating the match and only Jefferson Farfan was trying to do something more for the team but he only managed to score an equalizer which was soon after canceled by Ruud van Nistelrooy.

Good news for Schalke 04 is the signing of the Ghana international Hans Sarpei who joined the club on a two year deal from Bayer Leverkusen.

The match against Hannover should be a good match for a recovery and a win in the first home game of the season. Schalke 04 have a recent positive record against Hannover as they have five wins and two draws against them in the last seven matches. Last time Schalke 04 lost to Hannover was back in the season 2002/03 when they were beaten 2-0.

Coach Magath will use the same formation from last week with one change and that is Papadopoulos replacing the suspended Howedes in the starting line-up. Magath urged his team to take this match very seriously and will use an offensive formation with three strikers.

Probable Schalke 04 line-up :
Neuer,
Uchida, Papadopoulos, Metzelder, Schmitz,
Jones, Moritz, Rakitic,
Farfan, Edu, Raul

Hannover 96

Hannover 96 are on a good run winning the last three straight matches. In the opening round they beat 2-1 Eintracht Frankfurt which is a positive sign for the team that was on the verge to drop out of the Bundesliga last season. That victory was their first opening round victory in the last six years. It was an important win as Hannover 96 expects a really tough schedule in the following weeks. After Schalke 04 they will have to face Werder Bremen and Bayer Leverkusen.

However, a really bad news from the opening match was the injury in the first minute of the match of the new signing that was supposed to be a big reinforcement to the team, the attacking midfielder Carlitos who had ruptured a ligament and faces a long time absence of the squad as he already underwent surgery and the estimation of his absence is about six months.

Moritz Stoppelkamp will be the player that will replace Carlitos in the starting eleven. Ya Konan was the man of the match in the game against Eintracht Frankfurt and he will be in the attack partnered with Abdellaoue.

Probable Hannover 96 line-up :
Fromlowitz,
Cherundolo, Haggui, Pogatetz, C. Schulz,
Schmiedebach, Pinto, Stoppelkamp, Rausch,
Ya Konan, Abdellaoue

The Betting Verdict

Schalke 04 needs to start winning after their opening loss and the match against Hannover 96 is a perfect opportunity for that, although Hannover 96 are currently in a good form. I cannot see Schalke 04 slipping twice in a row with those players and that type of coach.

Schalke 04 are clearly the better team with deeper squad and i expect them to win this match without a problem. Home win for Schalke 04.

The Statistics :

The Pick :

Schalke 2-0 Hannover

FIXED ODDS BETTING :

Take the Home win for Schalke 04