Schalke 04 – Wolfsburg

Championship outsider will not be able to cope with pressure from visiting team

In the Bundesliga season before last, Schalke's level of play was simply disastrous, scoring 16 points in the entire league - 15 more than the last-placed team. That season's disgrace was all but wiped away by a swift return to the top flight. They finished top of the Second Bundesliga and before the start of the season they were not regarded by the bookmakers as the underdogs in Germany's top flight. Now, however, history is repeating itself from the season before last. Once again, Schalke are last in the standings, once again the club is an unmitigated underdog. Wolfsburg, on the other hand, after the 12th place in the league last season, are on the road to "correction", but there have also been problems in recent weeks. Bookmakers considered the visitors the favourites with odds of around 1.95. Schalke were heading into the World Cup break with nine defeats in their last ten games. Many fans were looking forward to the two-month break with anticipation and faith in change. However, the aspirations of Schalke fans were dashed by their first opponents in January. Eintracht and Leipzig scored a combined total of nine goals against the Pitmen, denying them even a hint of scoring. Schalke played more or less well in the last two rounds, which were drawn 0-0 against Köln and Borussia de Gladbach. While Schalke went on holiday in a nightmare series, Wolfsburg went there with four straight wins. And in the case of the Wolves, the fans' expectations were fulfilled. Niko Kovac's team managed to score eleven unanswered goals against Freiburg and Hertha in the opening two rounds after the season resumption. At the same time, the series of impressive victories played a cruel trick on the Wolfsburg players. After their first misfire, the team went into a steep dive. The Wolves now suffered three defeats in a row, which resulted in relegation from the German Cup and elimination from the Bundesliga Eurocup zone. However, there is no doubt that Wolfsburg have a strong squad. There's nowhere for the team that crushed their opponents until a couple of weeks ago. The match against an outsider is a good chance and an opportunity for the visitors to return to winning ways.