Schalke – Hannover

Schalke 04 hosts Hannover 96 in a match from the 19th round of the German Bundesliga.

Schalke are performing much better, compared to the way they performed last season. Right now the Royal Blues are 4th in the Bundesliga standings and they continue the fight for a Top 4 finish and a return to the Champions League. They have two points advantage in front of the 5th Bayer Leverkusen, so they would want to keep this distance.

But here’s the moment to note that in their last five matches Schalke won just once. Obviously the team is not in its best shape at the moment. In the last round the Royal Blues suffered a defeat against RB Leipzig and before that they were unable to beat Eintracht Frankfurt. Clearly it’s not the best moment for Schalke. But who knows – maybe they will find themselves once again versus Hannover? It’s a good opportunity for Schalke, especially at home.

As for Hannover 96, they are currently 10th and positioned in the middle of the table. Hannover have a record of 7 wins, 5 draws and 6 losses since the start of the campaign. They are performing like a solid midtable team and they even have some chances to chase an European qualification until the end of the season.

In their last five games Hannover 96 won twice, including against Mainz 05 in the last round. But now they will have a tough visit to Gelsenkirchen to face one of the strongest teams in the country.

Schalke are the big favourites here, of course, but we shall not underrestimate Hannover as well. How we said, they are a decent team and they can cause unpleasant surprises in any time. If Schalke underrestimate this game, most surely they are going to regret it afterwards.