Schalke eye relegation playoff spot exit after embarrassing defeat to Bayern.

2024-09-23

After a humbling defeat to Bayern Munich, FC Schalke 04 aim to escape the relegation playoff zone in a crucial clash against Eintracht Frankfurt at the Veltins-Arena this Saturday.

Schalke 04

Schalke suffered their second defeat in five games, WLWWL, after a 6-0 thrashing by Bayern Munich last weekend. The Royal Blues conceded two goals before the break after strikes from Thomas Müller [21’] and Joshua Kimmich [29’, P.].

A brace from Serge Gnabry [50’, 65’] increased the deficit before additional goals from Mathys Tel [80’] and Noussair Mazraoui [90’+2] put the game well beyond Schalke's reach. With the defeat, the Royal Blues were left in the relegation playoff spot, in 16th place with 30 points [7W, 9D, & 16L], just one point above the bottom two.

Schalke have been in fine form on home turf in the second half of the season, losing just one of their seven home games in this period [3W, 3D, & 1L]. Thomas Reis is expected to line up a 4-2-3-1 formation with Simon Terodde in attack for this clash against Frankfurt, as he hopes to steer his side out of the relegation playoff spot.

Schalke's leading scorer, Marius Bülter [11 goals], is suspended for this fixture, while Fährmann [thigh] and Justin Heekeren [cruciate ligament] are both ruled out.

Eintracht Frankfurt

Frankfurt ended a 10-game winless run in the Bundesliga with a 3-0 win over Mainz last weekend. Daichi Kamada, who could be playing in Italy next season with AC Milan, scored from the spot before goals from Aurélio Buta and Randal Kolo Muani put the game to bed. With the win, Frankfurt climbed from 9th to 8th place, now holding 46 points.

Despite a poor record on the road, the Eagles, who are vying for a top-six finish, are hoping to pick up a win over Schalke to close in on the section. A win over RB Leipzig in the DFB Pokal final on June 3 could provide another path to European qualification. However, Die Adler are on a 10-game winless run on the road in the Bundesliga and suffered back-to-back defeats in their last two trips to Schalke.

Oliver Glasner, who is poised for an exit at the end of the season, could line up a 3-4-2-1 formation with Randal Kolo Muani in attack. Lucas Alario (knee injury), Kristijan Jakić (calf injury), and Hrvoje Smolčić (knee injury) are out of the weekend’s clash, while Philipp Max remains in doubt following a muscle injury.