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Fresh off a good win in their last league game, VfB Stuttgart welcome bottom club Schalke 04 to the Mercedes Benz Arena on Saturday.
Stuttgart beat Koln 1-0 last weekend in the Bundesliga, with Sasa Kalajadzic scoring the only goal of that game. Having not won in three games before that, the three points came as a massive relief for Pellegrino Matarazzo, as he saw his side arrest a slump.
Stuttgart are rather comfortable in mid-table in the Bundesliga at the moment. They have 29 points from 22 games and are well clear, at least for now, of the shenanigans at the bottom of the table.
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Schalke, though, are right at the bottom of the table, as they have been for most of the season. They have just nine points from 22 games so far this season and are at least nine points off safety right now.
Last week, they were thumped by Borussia Dortmund in the Revierderby as well, to lose out on local bragging rights. Jadon Sancho and Raphael Guerreiro scored apart from an Erling Haaland brace as Dortmund won that game 4-0.
VfB Stuttgart vs Schalke 04 Head-to-Head
Schalke have won 21 of the last 42 games against Stuttgart, losing only 13 games in that period.
The Royal Blues actually took the lead through Malick Thiaw in the reverse fixture which was played at the Veltins Arena in October. However, Nicolas Gonzalez scored a second-half penalty as the game finished 1-1.
VfB Stuttgart form guide: W-D-L-L-W
Schake 04 form guide: L-D-L-L-D
VfB Stuttgart vs Schalke 04 Team News
VfB Stuttgart
Nicolas Gonzalez is a big miss for Stuttgart in this game. Clinton Mola and Lilian Egloff continue to remain out of the reckoning as well.
Injured: Darko Churlinov, Nicolas Gonzalez, Erik Thommy, Lilian Egloff
Doubtful: Tanguy Coulibaly
Suspended: None
Schalke 04
Schalke are currently ravaged by injuries in all parts of the pitch. Goalkeeper Ralf Fahrmann is injured while the likes of Shkodran Mustafi, Salif Sane, Matija Nastasic, Klaas Jan Huntelaar and Goncalo Paciencia are also unavailable currently.
Injured: Nabil Bentaleb, Shkodran Mustafi, Ralf Fahrmann, Matija Nastasic, Mark Uth, Frederik Ronnow, Klaas Jan Huntelaar, Steven Skrzybski, Kilian Ludewig, Salif Sane, Goncalo Paciencia, Nassim Boujellab
Suspended: None
VfB Stuttgart vs Schalke 04 Predicted XIs
Schalke 04 Predicted XI (4-3-3): Michael Langer; Timo Becker, Malick Thiaw, Bastian Oczipka, Sead Kolasinac; Suat Serdar, Benjamin Stambouli, Amine Harit; William, Matthew Hoppe, Benito Raman
VfB Stuttgart Predicted XI (3-4-2-1): Gregor Kobel; Konstantinos Mavropanos, Waldemar Anton, Marc-Oliver Kempf; Silas Wamangituka, Wataru Endo, Orel Mangala, Borna Sosa; Gonzalo Castro, Philipp Forster; Sasa Kalajdzic
VfB Stuttgart vs Schalke 04 Prediction
With the number of injuries Schalke have, it is tough to put a team on the pitch that would be capable of stringing a performance together, especially after the kind of traumatic season they have had so far. So we are predicting a win for Stuttgart in this game.
Prediction: VfB Stuttgart 1-0 Schalke 04
