SCHALKE look like a team who are desperate for the season to end that does not bode well ahead of a meeting with top-four chasing Bayer Leverkusen at the VELTINS-Arena on Sunday evening.
The Royal Blues are in the midst of a wretched run of form that has seen them collect just one point from possible 15 since the restart and the pressure has really started to mount on manager David Wagner.
Indeed, Schalke stopped the rot last weekend when drawing 1-1 away at Union Berlin, however, the Gelsenkirchen outfit were extremely fortunate to get out of the capital with a point last Sunday.
Consequently, Schalke have failed to win any of their last 12 Bundesliga matches, with their last league success coming way back in mid-January.
Standing in Schalke's way of a much-needed three points this weekend is a Bayer Leverkusen team who are fiercely competing for Champions League qualification.
Peter Bosz's team bounced back from last weekend's 4-2 defeat at home to Bayern Munich by booking a place in the DFB-Pokal in midweek with a comfortable 3-0 win away at Saarbrucken and there are certain permutations that could see Leverkusen end the weekend occupying fourth-place
Outright Betting
Schalke are in freefall and that is reflected in the 11/2 that William Hill are offering for a home win on Sunday and a draw is also deemed unlikely at 7/2 with the same firm.
The bookies fully expect Bayer Leverkusen to add to Schalke's woes on Sunday with an away win heavily fancied at a general 1/2 with most firms.
Betting Angles
I spoke about Schalke's struggles on this week's edition on the Gambla Betting Podcast and I fully expect Bayer Leverkusen to leave the VELTINS-Arena victorious on Sunday evening.
Die Werkself have won three of their five Games since the restart -all of which were away from home – however, there is little value in backing Leverkusen to win at the above-mentioned 1/2.
However, combining a Leverkusen win and over 1.5 match goals will boost the price up to a much more enticing 5/6 with Bet 365 – a bet that has clicked in two of Leverkusen's last three away days.
What's more, confidence-stricken Schalke have recently been turned over on home turf by both lowly Augsburg and Werder Bremen and 10 of Leverkusen's 17 league wins this season have come away from the Bay Arena.
Only Bayern Munich started the weekend with a better road record than Peter Bosz's troops and given that five of Leverkusen's last six matches have featured three more or goals, I'm happy to combine an away win and over 1.5 match goals here.
Furthermore Bayer Leverkusen look set to welcome back one of the continents' most sought after stars for this clash in the shape Kai Havertz and that adds to the appeal of siding with the aforementioned betting angle.
The German wonderkid has weighed in with five goals in four appearances since the restart and Havertz could mark his return to fitness by firing Bayer Leverkusen to three points on Sunday evening.
Havertz is an eye-catching to 7/2 with BoyleSports to open the scoring on Sunday, however, I would be more inclined to back the brilliant young German to put Schalke to the sword by scoring anytime at 6/5 with SportingBet.
This German Bundesliga match between Schalke and Bayer Leverkusen will be played on and kick off at 17:00. Check below for our tipsters best Schalke vs Bayer Leverkusen prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
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