German Bundesliga
2010-11-20 - Schalke 04 vs Werder Bremen
A Sports Betting Pick by Niko
Football : Germany : Bundesliga
Venue : Veltins Arena
Saturday, 20th November 2010 – kickoff 15:30
Schalke 04
Schalke 04 came back from two goals behind and managed a 2-2 draw against Vfl Wolfsburg in the last round, but their way of playing is far from satisfying.
They are still stuck at the disappointing 16th place in the Bundesliga with just ten points from twelve matches.
The striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, although he had scored seven goals in ten matches he played so far, was publicly criticized by his coach Felix Magath that he needs to score more goals and be more productive in order for Schalke 04 to get out of the crisis that they are currently into.
The team will play in the same formation from last week and good news is that there are no significant absentees for this match.
Raul and Huntelaar are in the attack, but also Jefferson Farfan will get more offensive role in the midfield. The central defender Metzelder has been in very poor form recently, but his place in the starting line up is guaranteed. Jermaine Jones and Edu will be at the wings, and interestingly Jones requested to be sold to another club during the January transfer window so it will be interesting to watch how that will affect his performances at the pitch.
Probable Schalke 04 line-up :
Uchida, Howedes, Metzelder, Schmitz,
Jones, Moritz, Farfan, Edu,
Raul, Huntelaar
Werder Bremen
After four losses in a row, Werder Bremen barely managed a scoreless draw against Eintracht Frankfurt in the last round.
The team has many problems especially in the defense and after Borussia Monchengladbach they have the second worst defense in the league with whopping 27 goals conceded so far in just twelve matches.
Good news for the team is the probable return of the right back Clemens Fritz in the starting line up after rehabilitating from his muscular problems he got at the start of the season.
However, the first striker Claudio Pizarro is still out with a right thigh muscle strain, and it will take some time before he gets back in the first team action.
Instead with the usual formation with one striker and three midfielders, coach Schaaf will use two strikers – Hugo Almeida, who is in good form and also scored for Portugal in the friendly match against Spain during midweek, who will be partnered with Marko Marin who moves forward in the attack from his usual place as right winger.
Probable Werder Bremen line-up :
Fritz, Mertesacker, Prodl, Silvestre ,
Frings,
Wesley, D. Jensen, Hunt,
Marin, Hugo Almeida
The Betting Verdict
These teams have played a total of 82 matches. Werder Bremen have the better overall record with 38 wins, 27 losses and 17 draws against Schalke 04.
However, Schalke 04 have the better home record against their opponents and have won 18 out of the 41 home matches, 11 matches have ended in a draw, and Werder Bremen have won 12 times.
I think that this will be an open match between two teams that have ‘shaky’ and poor defenses. Both teams are in poor form, but have tendency to score and concede a lot, so that is why i think that betting on both teams to score is probably better than betting on straight winner.
Maybe Schalke 04 will find a way to get their first home win, but after so many previous missed opportunities that is not quite sure thing to put money on, so try betting on goals.
The Statistics :
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The Pick :
Schalke 2-1 Werder Bremen
