Schalke 04 – Holstein Kiel

In Gelsenkirchen, the opponents will each score at least one goal against each other.

Schalke 04 approached the start of the new season not as one of the contenders for promotion. The club's management did not take any decisive measures in the transfer market to strengthen the squad, but did change the head coach to Austrian specialist Miron Muslić. The beginning of the current season of the Second Bundesliga brought the "miners" quite a lot of positivity and they approach Saturday's match against the visitors in good spirits. Of course, the defeat in a friendly match against Borussia Mönchengladbach last weekend does not reflect the state of this team. Holstein Kiel was relegated from the Bundesliga last season from second-to-last position in the league table. During the off-season, the team sold players for almost 15 million euros, but did not forget about strengthening the squad, which is why a disastrous start in the second division was not expected. However, after four rounds, there are all signs of it being indeed disastrous. The bookmakers have marked the home team as the favourites for the upcoming match, offering odds of 2.25 on their victory. Schalke participated in the opening and central match of the first round, where they competed against Hertha. The Berlin team in that same match initiated the end of their championship ambitions for the new season, losing 1:2. Already in the next round, the "miners" shook the faith of their fans with a defeat in Kaiserslautern. However, the last two matches in August brought Schalke victories over Bochum and Dynamo Dresden. Notably, they won against the latter away. The home match after the break for national team duties is extremely important, as it will underline Schalke's readiness to achieve good results over the distance. Holstein Kiel, after being relegated from the Bundesliga, lost several important players, two of whom, by the way, are in the starting lineup of the upcoming opponent. Porat and Becker have already performed well in matches for Schalke. Holstein Kiel's statistics after four rounds are the opposite of their opponent's - three defeats and one victory. At the same time, the guests cannot be called terrible in their play. This means that Holstein Kiel will have chances to score in Gelsenkirchen.