Schalke 04 match preview: "We are up against a top side"

Julian Nagelsmann on…

…the opponent.

Schalke is a team with a lot of outstanding players. Even the new arrivals are capable of playing to this level. They were not the worst side in all of their four matches. They were unlucky not to score more goals in the first half against Köln. My players and I are aware that we are facing a top team. They have a lot of quality and have a lot of pace upfront.

…the team.

Pirmin Schwegler is unable to feature because of the injury he sustained to his knee. We have a few injured players. Sandro Wagner and Niklas Süle are training with the rest of the team again. Andrej Kramaric injured his ankle during the match against Darmstadt when he made contact with the ball awkwardly. However I think he’ll still be able to play.

…the sporting situation.

We have to play well. To do this, we have analysed Schalke well. We need to have a good plan of action. We have made improvements in defence and haven’t given away so many chances however I want the team to create more goal-scoring opportunities. We had a fair few chances against Darmstadt but we didn’t manage to string together that final pass. We have to improve on that.

The last meeting:

The two sides have met 16 times in the league and once in the DFB cup. TSG Hoffenheim have won six of these meetings, Schalke have won seven and four turned out to be a draw. Hoffenheim haven’t won against Schalke for almost two years when they won 2-1 on 4th October 2015 in the WIRSOL Rhein-Necker-Arena. Tarik Elyounoussi and Adam Szalai scored the goals for TSG.

The form of the opposition:

New chairman and a new manager, Heidel and Weinzierl. Things are looking up at Schalke. There is a lot of quality in the squad and they are continuing to strengthen it. They have signed players from Sevilla, PSG and Tottenham. They have only scored one goal this season and have lost all of their four matches. An unsuccessful start to the season for Schalke 04.

Key battles:

It’s difficult to say when Schalke haven’t been playing so well, like when they threw away their 1-0 lead against FC Köln. TSG scored a late equaliser in Darmstadt but against Schalke it will be about putting them under pressure and forcing them to make mistakes. The team will have to be stronger physically and mentally and make sure Schalke get nothing out of the match.

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