MSV Duisburg v Schalke 04
Football ; Germany : DFB Cup Final
Olympic Stadium in Berlin
Saturday, 21st May 2011 – kickoff 20:00

MSV Duisburg

MSV Duisburg had finished at the eight place in the 2.Bundesliga this season with 52 points, but were just about four victories short of reaching the top two spots that guarantee promotion.

Despite their mid-table finish this season, i consider them to be a serious contender next season where their aim should be the top three finish in the 2.Bundesliga. They are a strong physical side and were amongst teams with strongest offenses in their division.

On their way to the DFB Cup Final, MSV Duisburg beat Vfl Lubeck away in the first round with 2-0, then another easy 3-0 away victory against Hallescher FC and those were just routine wins, but then they beat FC Koln also away with 2-1 which was big upset, then in the Quarterfinal they took another big scalp by winning 2-0 against Kaiserslautern and finally in the Semifinal they beat 2-1 Energie Cottbus.

The Croatian coach Milan Sasic will use a formation with one striker and that is Manuel Schaffler, but he had scored just four goals for his team this season. MSV Duisburg`s best striker is Srdjan Baljak (nine goals, three assists), but he will not play in this match as he is out injured (torn ligaments). Their second best striker Stefan Maierhofer (eight goals, two assists) is also out injured with broken metatarsal.

The midfielder Goran Sukalo might get more offensive role in this match as he had also scored eight goals for MSV Duisburg this season. Sefa Yilmaz can also be dangerous at the right wing as he is one fast player and had scored six goals and made three assists for MSV Duisburg this season.

The playmaker Ivo Grlic had missed couple of training sessions in the past week with sprained ankle, but is expected to be fit on time to play in this match.

Probable MSV Duisburg line-up :
Yelldell,
B. Kern, Reiche, Bajic, Veigneau,
Banovic, Sukalo,
Yilmaz, Grlic, Sahan,
Schaffler

Schalke 04

Schalke 04 had a really dismal season, despite their Champions League success, and they had finished just two places above the relegation zone with 40 points at the 14th place. This is one big chance for them to save the season and secure a place in Europe and they must live up to their role of being favorites in this match.

Schalke 04 road to the final started by beating 2-1 Vfr Aalen in the first round, then another 1-0 away win against FSV Frankfurt, in the third round they beat, also away ,the newly promoted Bundesliga team FC Augsburg with 1-0, then came 3-2 win against FC Nurnberg and the latest huge 1-0 away win over the giants Bayern Munich. So as you can see their road to the Final was much tougher than their opponents.

Good news for the coach Ralf Rangnick is that he will have almost full squad available for selection, except for the midfielder Anthony Annan (toe inflammation) who is the only player unavailable to play in this match.

Interestingly, we will probably see the striker Klaas Jan-Huntelaar as only striker in the formation, and this will be his first competitive match since his injury few months ago. Raul will also have an offensive role, but behind Huntelaar and Jefferson Farfan and Jurado will take their places at the wings.

Probable Schalke 04 line-up :
Neuer,
Uchida, Howedes, Metzelder, Escudero,
Papadopoulos, Kluge,
Farfan, Raul, Jurado,
Huntelaar

The Betting Verdict

This is a huge match for both teams, but Schalke 04 are much closer to the victory. In the past month or two, the DFB Cup was their main target as they were very well aware that they will drop out against Manchester United in the Champions League, so all their focus was on this match.

MSV Duisburg can be satisfied with the achieved this season, reaching this far in the Cup, but my opinion is that they think more on how to prepare well for next season and take a shot for the Bundesliga promotion, rather than winning this Cup and playing in Europe.

The winner of this match will enter directly into the Europa League group phase, this will be the last match of Schalke 04 goalkeeper Manuel Neuer as he is joining Bayern Munich after this match, plus this is probably the last chance for the Spanish legend Raul to lead his team to a trophy, so the motivation is strong among the Schalke 04 players.

Although anything is possible in the final matches that are played at neutral venues, the quality is heavily on Schalke 04 side plus they are extra motivated to lift this trophy which they last won back in 2002. The price on Schalke 04 victory is fair and i would back them to win and lift the DFB Cup.

The Pick :

MSV Duisburg 1-2 Schalke 04

FIXED ODDS BETTING :

Take Schalke 04 to win this match and lift the German DFB Cup for a good price of 1.53 at Ladbrokes