Our prediction for this Bundesliga match:
Freiburg will be looking to make amends for back-to-back defeats to Borussia M’gladbach and Arminia Bielefeld when they take on Schalke 04 at Schwarzwald-Stadion on Matchday 29. Christian Streich’s troops are stuck in the bottom of the table, with the team having slim chances of booking their place in the Europa League. However, Freiburg will not have a better chance than this to return to winning ways as they play host to the rock-bottom side on Saturday.
Nicolas Hofler and Vincenzo Grifo should be the only absentees in the home team. Despite beating Augsburg 1-0 in their last league match, die Knappen remained in the relegation zone. Schalke 04 have slim chances of securing the Bundesliga survival, and given their poor away record, home win should be considered. All Uth, Raman, Mercan, Mendyl, Bentaleb, Boujellab, Nastasic, Skrzybski, and Ludewig are out of contention for the visitors.
Highlighted Player (Nils Petersen):
Son to a football coach, Andreas, the Freiburg striker Nils Petersen is a physical forward best known for his clinical finishing. A former Bayern Munich striker never got a chance to prove his worth with Bundesliga giants and had to take a long road to prominence which included loan spells at Werder Bremen and Freiburg, before penning a permanent deal with Die Breisaguer in 2015.
Petersen’s impressive exploits during the 2017/18 season helped him get into Germany’s provisional FIFA World Cup 2018 squad although his father Andreas would argue it was his personal influence that helped Joachim Loew write his son’s name in the 23-man list. Namely, Andres Piteresen spotted the Germany manager on a beach in January and decided to ask him about his son’s chances of making it into Germany World Cup squad.
Piteresen was rewarded with his senior Germany cap in an Austria friendly but unfortunately for his father missed out on the final squad for the tournament in Russia.
Highlighted Team (Schalke):
Schalke 04 are a professional football club founded in 1904. Die Knappen (The Miners) compete in German Bundesliga and they have won seven domestic titles. Schalke have clinched five German Cup trophies as well, while lifting the UEFA Cup title in 1997. The German club defeated Italian side Inter on penalties in the title game and that was the last time the final of the competition was played in a two-legged format.
Schalke 04 play their home matches at Veltins-Arena, the stadium that has been the home of the team since 2001. The capacity of Veltins-Arena is 62,271. It is well known that Borussia Dortmund are Schalke’s main rivals and the Ruhy neighbours face each other in the Revierderby.
The likes of Klaus Fichtel (477), Norbert Nigbur (355), Rolf Russmann (304), Klaus Fischer (295), Olaf Thon (295) and Herbert Lutkebohmert (286) are the players with most appearances for die Knappen. The colour of Schalke’s home kit is blue.