Will Schalke join the promotion fight?
After being relegated from the Bundesliga, things didn’t look too good for FC Schalke 04 at first. The Königsblauen only picked up four points out of a possible twelve from their first four league games. Then, however, the knot burst in a 3:1 victory in Düsseldorf. Last Sunday, the Gelsenkircheners celebrated a three-goal win in Paderborn at an in-form and previously unbeaten club
With a third win in a row, S04 could now join the fight for promotion. To do so, however, they will have to beat KSC, who have only lost one of their six league games. In the run-up to the match between Schalke and Karlsruhe, the odds are swinging in favour of the home side.
Karlsruher SC started the new season perfectly with six points. Then, however, the momentum got away from the Badeners. Most recently, the blue and white remained winless four times in a row Against this backdrop, it is also very coherent to play Schalke vs Karlsruhe tip 1.
Germany Schalke – Statistics & current form
Fc Schalke 04 is not only a multiple German champion (last 1958), but also once won the UEFA Cup in 1997. Accordingly, it is still difficult to reconcile the club’s aspirations, which ten years ago were still in the semi-finals of the Champions League, with merely playing in the second division.
After the disaster season of 2020/21, the aim under Dimitrios Grammozis is to return to the Bundesliga as quickly as possible. However, the start of the season was all the more disappointing, with only four points from the first four games.
Eight of the last nine duels against Karlsruhe not lost
In the meantime, however, the Knappen are back in the upper echelons of the table. After winning two NRW duels against Düsseldorf and Paderborn in a row, the Königsblauen already have ten points on their account and are only one point behind a direct promotion spot.
Accordingly, the relegated team is now desperate to improve on this result at home against KSC, against whom at least their recent record is good. The Schalkers have lost only one of their last nine encounters against the Badeners, who not only remained without defeat in all of the other eight games (five wins, three draws), but also did not concede a goal.
Will Terodde make the difference again?
Offensively, Gelsenkirchen’s hopes continue to rest on top transfer Simon Terodde, who also needed no time to settle in with his new employer and is once again scoring at will in the 2. Bundesliga. The 33-year-old has scored seven of Schalk’s ten goals this season
In the end, it could also depend on him whether tip 1 works out for Schalke against Karlsruhe. However, things have always gone well against KSC in recent years for the newcomer, who arrived from HSV in the summer. Against the Badeners, the current leader in the goalscoring charts of the 2nd division has scored in four of his last five competitive games…
Predicted Schalke line-up:
Fährmann – Ouwejan – Kaminski – Itakura – Thiaw – Churlinov – Palsson – Flick – Martínez – Bülter – Terodde
Last matches played by Schalke:
Germany Karlsruhe – Statistics & current form
Karlsruher SC returned to the 2. Bundesliga in the summer of 2019 after a two-year intermezzo in the 3. Liga. Christian Eichner, who was hired as interim coach shortly before the end of the season, managed to keep the team in the league with a spectacular final spurt.
Since then, the 38-year-old, who was consequently promoted to coach, has sustainably stabilised the Baden team. After a strong sixth place in this year’s final table, the Blue and Whites are once again in the upper half of the table.
Wegweisende Wochen für Karlsruhe
It should be noted, however, that KSC are still living off the credit from their two wins at the start of the season. Since then, there has been no further success in four consecutive games (three draws, one defeat), which meant that the faint dreams of promotion were shattered early on.
Now the weeks of truth are practically upon the Badeners, because the duel at Schalke is followed by the games against St. Pauli and Regensburg. If Eichner’s team can score regularly again in these three games, it would at least cement their desire to be in the upper third of the table.
Once again Philipp Hofmann is the life insurance
At the same time, KSC has a real life insurance in the offensive. We are talking of course about Philipp Hofmann, who was once again willing to make a move in the most recent transfer window, but remained with the Blue-Whites this time as well. Once again, four of the nine league goals went to his account.
At Schalke, however, the 1909 German champions will need a cohesive team performance to be able to take something countable away from an opponent who is probably superior in terms of playing potential.
Predicted line-up of Karlsruhe:
Gersbeck – Heise – Kobald – Bormuth – Jung – Breithaupt – Lorenz – Wanitzek – Gondorf – Choi – Hofmann
Last matches played by Karlsruhe:
Schalke – Karlsruhe Direct comparison / H2H-Balance
Head to head: 19 – 17 – 13
The two teams have faced each other a total of 49 times so far and S04 lead the direct comparison with 19 wins. The duel, which has only taken place twice in the 2nd Bundesliga, (1983/84) was most recently clearly in the hands of the Königsblauen, who not only remained undefeated in eight of the last nine games, but also without conceding a goal.
United Kingdom Schalke – Karlsruhe United Kingdom Tip
When it comes to Schalke against Karlsruhe, our prediction is primarily shaped by the momentum turning. Whereas the Königsblauen have celebrated two wins in a row after only one win from their first four gameslast time out, KSC have not won in four in a row after two opening victories. The home side’s chest is correspondingly broad, and they even managed to win a difficult match against strong East Westphalians from Paderborn last time out
Also because Simon Terodde, currently the best goal scorer in the 2. Bundesliga, can make the difference up front, we see the greatest value in betting on a home win for the Königsblauen.
