Bundesliga: Depleted Schalke Team Hosts Struggling Freiburg

Schalke 04 vs SC Freiburg

Schalke 04 will look to improve on their standing in the Bundesliga table as they host the slumping SC Freiburg on Saturday night at the Veltins Arena.

The home team is currently clinging to the fifth spot in the standings with 29 points and they have won three of their last five matches. They overcame their slump few weeks ago, and they are keen on continuously improving their form.

On the other hand, SC Freiburg have struggled lately as they have only won once in their last four fixtures. They are right behind Schalke 04 by placing fifth in the table with 25 points. However, a loss here can slide them down to as low as the eighth spot at the table.

These two teams are aiming to find some semblance of consistency. And with the race to the top of the Bundesliga table tightening up as we go along, both of these clubs will try to gather every ounce of momentum that they can.

Allow SBOBET to give you some points of discussion ahead of this exciting match this weekend.

Talking points

Schalke’s losing some key personnel

It has been a tough week for Die Knappen in terms of keeping their personnel intact, as the team was on the wrong end of our Bundesliga 2019 news with one of their key players embroiled in an unfortunate incident.

Alexander Nubel was meted a four-game suspension by the Bundesliga disciplinary board after a reckless challenge during their match against Eintracht Frankfurt last Monday. The 23-year-old goal keeper hurled a karate kick towards Frankfurt midfielder Mijat Gacinovic at the 66^th minute which was reminiscent to Nigel de Jong’s infamous challenge on Xabi Alonso back in the 2010 World Cup Final.

Gacinovic endured a few cuts and bruises because of the incident and Schalke’s shot stopper was deservedly given a red card. Nubel, however, quickly expressed his apology in lieu of the incident.

Nubel has been their main shot stopper especially this season as he’s started and played in all of their matches. He has been with the club since 2015 and has emerged to be one of the Bundesliga’s top young goal keepers. His loss will surely hurt the backline of Die Knappen.

Along with that, Schalke have a gaping hole in the middle with the loss of Weston McKennie. The American midfielder dislocated his shoulder after a bad landing following an aerial challenge with Frankfurt’s Bas Dost. It remains to be seen on whether he’ll go through the knife or not, but the severity of the injury indicates that he’ll be out for a long while.

Amine Harit continues to be the bright spot for manager David Wagner as he’s scored six goals already this season. It’s expected that he’ll have a heavier workload in their upcoming matches.

SC Freiburg looking to shrug off mini-slump

SC Freiburg boss Christian Streich is confident that he can turn around their Bundesliga slump — SC Freiburg boss Christian Streich reacts during their Bundesliga match against Bayern Munich

SC Freiburg are not really known as a team with big-name stars, which is why it’s impressive that team manager Christian Streich has repaid the faith given to him by the club in a big way.

The youth-oriented squad has made an unlikely run at the top-six, and that’s quite an achievement already given their endless bouts with inconsistency.

Fast forward to today, however, Freiburg have hit a snag after losing three of their last four fixtures. In those losses, the team conceded 2.7 goals on an average indicating that their defence still is inconsistent.

But on the attack they have been decent. Super sub Nils Petersen leads the team in scoring with six goals so far this campaign, while Jonathan Schmid, Luca Waldschmidt, and Lucas Holer have four apiece.

Christian Streich’s side has had a tough stretch with matches against Wolfsburg, Monchengladbach, and SC Freiburg. But after this match against Schalke, SC Freiburg should fare well in their upcoming matches against Mainz, Paderborn, and FC Koln.

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Bundesliga

History

Schalke 04 and SC Freiburg have 30 matches between them where the former won in 12 while the latter won in 11 along with seven draws.

Their previous match last February was filled with fireworks as both of these teams received one red card each. Neither team came away with a victory as they were held to a goalless draw.

Betting Tip

	Schalke 04 vs SC Freiburg	Draw 1×2 @3.95
	December 21, 22:30 (GMT+8)

Our Bundesliga 2019 odds have placed Schalke 04 at 1.65, SC Freiburg at 4.70 and a draw at 3.95 in the 1×2 market, favouring the home team. But for me, the odds should be a lot closer than you would think.

Especially with some missing pieces, I don’t expect Schalke to have an easy time against their visitors and I wouldn’t be surprised if this will be a replay of sorts of their previous fixture.

We can expect a low-scoring slugfest in this one as this match can go either way.