German Bundesliga - Schalke 04 vs. Bayer Leverkusen - Preview & Prediction
Still battling for a top-four finish in the Bundesliga this season, 5th-placed Bayer Leverkusen will pay a visit to 10th-placed Schalke 04, who are on the verge of a record winless run. Kick-off - at 12:00 noon ET on Sunday, June 14.
Schalke Draw In East Berlin
Schalke 04 ended a four-game losing streak after earning a 1-1 draw against Union Berlin away at Stadion a der Alten Forsterei on Sunday. The hosts had the better chances to get off the mark throughout the whole game and opened the scoring just 11 minutes into the contest before Everton loanee Jonjoe Kenny tied the proceedings, netting his second Bundesliga marker of the season, with his first coming versus Berlin’s other team, Hertha. The Royal Blues have now gone without a victory for 12 successive matches (D5 L7) and sit 10th in the league (W9 D11 L10), seven points below the top-six, and 10 points clear of the bottom three.
Both Schalke 04 top scorers Suat Serdar (7 goals) and Amine Harit (6 goals) remain injured, leaving Belgian striker Benito Raman (4 goals) as the most lethal attacking weapon of the Royal Blues. He has not found the back of the net in Germany’s top league, though, for 13 straight games since scoring the 1-0 winner against Eintracht Frankfurt on Dec. 15. Alexander Nubel, meanwhile, sits 13th in the Bundesliga goalkeeper chart with 72 saves. He has picked up six clean sheets in 22 appearances this season and gives up a goal every 67 minutes on average.
Bayer Lose To Bayern, Reach Cup Final
Bayer Leverkusen played two games during the past week. And while the team’s Bundesliga fixture against Bayern Munich at BayArena on Saturday finished with a 4-2 defeat, Die Werkself will have their chance to avenge the loss after reaching the Final of the DFB Cup alongside the reigning league champions after snatching a 3-0 victory versus fourth-tier Saarbrucken at Hermann-Neuberger-Stadion just three days later. Still also active in the Europa League, Die Werkself are no longer in contention to win the Bundesliga, though, currently sitting 5th in the standings (W17 D5 L8), 14 points below leaders Bayern with only four games remaining.
German playmaker Kai Havertz, who celebrated his 21st birthday on Thursday, missed the last two outings of Bayer Leverkusen due to a muscular injury but will be eager to add to his team-leading 11 Bundesliga snipes this season during the upcoming fixture. Havertz has banked seven goals in his last six appearances in all competitions alone. Goalie Lukas Hradecky, meanwhile, has turned away 92 shots so far this year, ranking 5th in Germany’s top tier amongst keepers. He has recorded nine clean sheets in 30 league games this season and allows a goal every 68 minutes of play.
Prediction
In case of a failure to snatch a victory in this matchup, Schalke 04 will set a new undesired club record of 13 Bundesliga games without a win. Chances are, this anti-achievement will come about in the worst way possible for the Royal Blues, who are even unlikely to snatch just a point against Die Werkself - a team in the midst of a serious fight for a top-four finish this season. Bayer Leverkusen has already gone unbeaten versus Schalke 04 for three straight meetings (W2 D1) and have collected 13 points from a possible 15 on their past five trips to Gelsenkirchen (W4 D1). With the Royal Blues struggling for goals lately, expect Leverkusen goalie Lukas Hradecky to pick up his 10th Bundesliga shutout of the year as well!
Best bets:
Bayer Leverkusen to win (-190)
Bayer Leverkusen clean sheet (+130)
Correct score: 3-0 to Bayer Leverkusen (+930)
Kai Havertz to score anytime (+120)