Will Schalke end their away misery?
It was not so long ago that Werder Bremen and FC Schalke 04 met in the second division under completely different circumstances. At that time, it was all about promotion to the Bundesliga and, as we know today, both clubs made the leap into the top flight. While the Bremen side are finding their feet, the Knappen are already teetering on the precipice again.
In the table, Werder Bremen are in eighth position with 18 points from twelve games. With such a record after this number of games, only once in the history of the Bundesliga has a team been relegated. Ole Werner’s team therefore seems to be well on the way to achieving its primary goal of staying in the league in the end.
The situation is different for the Knappen. The Schalkers have just six points on their account. They are three points away from the relegation zone and five points away from the safety zone. The Königsblauen are rushing from defeat to defeat and therefore the forecast in this match between Werder Bremen and Schalke 04 must be for a clear home victory.
By the way, both clubs have won the most Bundesliga matches against their opponents. It is also exciting that Schalke coach Thomas Reis already met the SVW on matchday five with VfB Bochum and has already lost there.
Werder Bremen – Statistics & current form
The most interesting personnel in Bremen is probably Niclas Füllkrug. The striker is still hoping to be called up by Hansi Flick to the squad for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. After all, he is not only the best German attacker in the Bundesliga, but also leads the goalscoring charts with nine goals together with Christopher Nkunku. Since 2011/12, no Bremen player has managed to score so many goals in the top flight at this point in the season.
Specialist in late goals
While other teams start like fire, Bremen are a team that tends to score their goals in the closing stages. The Green-Whites have scored ten of their 21 goals after the 82nd minute. This could mean that in the clash between Werder Bremen and Schalke, you could also play the odds on a late SVW goal, predominantly scored by Niclas Füllkrug.
This is exactly how the game went last weekend when Hertha BSC were guests at the Weserstadion. The score was 0-0 for a long time, but it took until the 85th minute before Bremen scored the 1-0. Unsurprisingly, it was Niclas Füllkrug who scored this goal, which pushed Bremen up to mid-table in the Bundesliga.
In terms of personnel, things are looking really good for Bremen on Saturday. Apart from Felix Agu, only Jean-Manuel Mbom is still missing. Captain Marco Friedl will return to the team after serving his suspension. It is questionable whether Amos Pieper or Niklas Stark will have to sit on the bench. Christian Groß would be an alternative to Ilia Gruev in defensive midfield.
Predicted line-up of Werder Bremen:
Pavlenka – Pieper, Veljkovic, Friedl – Weiser, Gruev, Jung – Schmid, Bittencourt – Füllkrug, Ducksch – Coach: Werner
Last matches played by Werder Bremen:
Bundesliga
29/10/2022 – Werder Bremen 1 – 0 Hertha BSC
22/10/2022 – SC Freiburg 2 – 0 Werder Bremen
DFB Cup
19/10/2022 – Paderborn (5)2 – 2(4) Werder Bremen
Bundesliga
15/10/2022 – Werder Bremen 0 – 2 Mainz 05
08/10/2022 – Hoffenheim 1 – 2 Werder Bremen
Schalke – Statistics & current form
Without going too much into the scoring, the question does arise whether FC Schalke did themselves a favour by signing Thomas Reis. Regardless of the fact that he has already lost to Bremen with Bochum this season, the new coach has lost all of his last eight Bundesliga games, season and club-wide.
No light in the Schalk pit
At the moment it’s hard to see light at the end of the Schalke tunnel. Especially away from home, nothing has been going right for years. The Knappen have not won in 34 away games in the top flight. They have also lost six matches in a row in the Bundesliga. So it’s hard to predict a win for the visitors between Werder Bremen and Schalke.
What you can’t accuse the Schalke players of, however, is a lack of commitment. That would also be the only thing the fans wouldn’t forgive them for. So the Knappen also put up their best fight in last week’s home game against Freiburg. The bottom line, however, is that they lacked the necessary quality and thus suffered a deserved 0:2 home defeat.
Ibrahima Cisse, Leo Greiml, Marcin Kaminski, Thomas Ouwejan, Sepp van den Berg and Rodrigo Zalazar will have to miss Saturday’s match in Bremen due to injury. Nevertheless, Thomas Reis has some options. Kerim Calhanoglu, Danny Latza and Simon Terodde in particular would be alternatives for the starting eleven, depending on how Thomas Reis will line up tactically on Saturday.
Predicted line-up of Schalke:
Schwolow – Brunner, Matriciani, Yoshida, Mohr – Krauß, Kral – Drexler, Mollet, Bülter – Polter – Coach: Reis
Last matches played by Schalke:
Bundesliga
30/10/2022 – Schalke 04 0 – 2 SC Freiburg
23/10/2022 – Hertha BSC 2 – 1 Schalke 04
DFB Cup
19/10/2022 – Hoffenheim 5 – 1 Schalke 04
Bundesliga
15/10/2022 – Schalke 04 0 – 3 Hoffenheim
08/10/2022 – Bayer Leverkusen 4 – 0 Schalke 04
Werder Bremen – Schalke Direct comparison / H2H balance
Werder Bremen vs Schalke 04 has been a perennial duel in German football for decades. In total, the two rivals have faced each other in 119 competitive matches to date. In a direct comparison, the two clubs are very close. Werder Bremen leads by a narrow margin of 48:47 after victories, and the two clubs have also drawn 24 times.
Although FC Schalke became champions of the second Bundesliga last season, SV Werder had a positive record against the fellow promoted team. At the Weserstadion, they initially parted with a 1-1 draw. In the return match, the Green-Whites conquered the Veltins Arena in a 4:1 away victory. Ilia Gruev, Niclas Füllkrug and Marvin Ducksch scored a brace to give them a 4:0 lead. Terodde only scored the consolation goal in the 88th minute.
Werder Bremen – Schalke Tip
Werder Bremen is playing a very decent role as a promoted team. This is also due to the fact that the core of the team has remained together despite relegation and promotion. That is now paying off. Above all, the attacking duo of Niclas Füllkrug and Marvin Ducksch is a guarantee that Bremen do not have to worry at all about playing in the Bundesliga next season.
Schalke, on the other hand, is currently going nowhere. Six defeats in a row, the departure of sporting director Rouven Schröder and the dismissal of coach Frank Kramer indicate that the shambles can hardly be swept together.
However, the odds on a Bremen success are relatively low, so it is difficult for us to see the value in it. It might be more interesting to bet on a goal in the closing stages, although a Schalke goal would also help there. However, we have decided to play the betting odds on a goal by Niclas Füllkrug between Werder Bremen and Schalke 04, who is in absolute top form and wants to recommend himself for the World Cup in Qatar.
