Fragile Schalke set to suffer fifth defeat on spin at Freiburg

Bundesliga
7.30pm Tuesday

Schalke have had a shocking start to the season and there is every chance they will suffer a fifth successive Bundesliga defeat when taking on Freiburg at Schwarzwald-Stadion.

Last season was largely successful for Schalke, who finished second in the league and reached the semi-finals of the German Cup.

But they had a shaky summer with defender Thilo Kehrer moving to Paris St-Germain and attacker Leon Goretzka joining Bayern Munich and have struggled to get going.

The Royal Blues slipped to the foot of the table with a 2-0 loss at home to Bayern Munich on Saturday and it is going to be tough for manager Domenico Tedesco to turn things around.

Tedesco is hampered by long-term injuries to utility man Benjamin Stambouli and left back Bastian Oczipka, who were both regulars last season, and summer signings are failing to deliver.

Striker Mark Uth has failed to score in six games since arriving from Hoffenheim and the new look defence, featuring Senegal international Salif Sane and Germany international Sebastian Rudy, has failed to gel.

Schalke have not kept a clean sheet in five games and Freiburg, fresh from an impressive 3-1 success at Wolfsburg on Saturday, may be in the mood to punish them.

Freiburg finished fourth bottom last term – only five points above the automatic relegation places – but have not panicked and long-serving manager Christian Streich seems to be turning them around.

Powerful centre-forward Nils Peterson – their top scorer last season with 15 goals – has stayed and his no-nonsense style might be enough to unsettle a fragile Schalke defence and pave the way for a first home win of the season.

Recommendation
Freiburg
1pt 5-2 Betfair

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