Preview: Hoffenheim vs. Schalke 04 - prediction, team news, lineups

The two sides played each other in the Bundesliga on Friday night, with Hoffenheim running out 3-0 winners at the Veltins-Arena.

Match preview

Having gone three matches without a victory, Hoffenheim boss Andre Breitenreiter would have been pleased with the professiona nature of his side's 3-0 win away to Schalke on Friday.

Munas Dabbur's strike on the cusp of half-time was sandwiched by two converted penalties from Robert Skov either side of the break, with the visitors never looking in danger of dropping points once the Israel forward had bagged his fourth league goal of the campaign.

Despite conceding 15 shots in total, Oliver Baumann was only tested by Schalke's efforts on two occasions, illustrating how comfortable his defence generally were in terms of keeping their opponents at arm's length to move up to fourth in the table following the events of 'Super Sunday'.

Having required extra-time to beat SV Rodinghausen in the first round of Germany's domestic cup - in what was Breitenreiter's first competitive match in charge after taking charge this summer - the former FC Zurich manager will be hoping for a more serene affair this week ahead of welcoming reigning champions Bayern Munich to the Rhein-Neckar-Arena on Saturday.

For Schalke, Friday's defeat at home to Hoffenheim was their fourth successive loss, keeping them two points adrift of safety.

Kicker Magazine have alleged that Tuesday's cup tie against Die Kraichgauer could be Frank Kramer's last match in Schalke's dugout, especially if they are eliminated from the DFB-Pokal, with Rouven Schroeder waiting to find the right candidate to replace him.

While they were always likely to be in a relegation scrap having been promoted as champions of the second tier last season, the sharp downturn in performances alongside a significant run of defeats has clearly alarmed the hierarchy at the club.

As such, Kramer's job appears to be on the line when his side travel to Hoffenheim on Tuesday, but the writing could already be on the wall after their latest defeat.

Hoffenheim DFB-Pokal form:

W

Hoffenheim form (all competitions):

L

W

D

D

L

W

Schalke 04 DFB-Pokal form:

W

Schalke 04 form (all competitions):

D

W

L

L

L

L

Team News

Hoffenheim will remain without their star forward Andrej Kramaric, who missed Friday's trip to Gelsenkirchen due to an ankle injury.

Ermin Bicakcic, Benjamin Hubner and Ihlas Bebou are expected to miss out through injury, too, with Breitenreiter set to call on squad players such as Sebastian Rudy, Jacob Bruun Larsen and Kevin Akpoguma from the start as he shuffles his deck.

Schalke, meanwhile, look likely to be without Cedric Brunner, Rodrigo Zalazar, Sepp van den Berg, Ibrahima Cisse and Marcin Kaminski through injury.

Mehmet Aydin came on for Brunner at half-time of Friday's defeat to Hoffenheim and will almost certainly replace him from the start on Tuesday, with Sebastian Polter set to be handed a start.

Hoffenheim possible starting lineup:

Baumann; Akpoguma, Vogt, Nsoki; Kaderabek, Rudy, Geiger, Angelino; Larsen, Rutter; Dabbur

Schalke 04 possible starting lineup:

Schwolow; Aydin, Greiml, Yoshida, Ouwejan; Kral, Latza, Flick; Drexler, Polter, Bulter

We say: Hoffenheim 2-0 Schalke 04

We expect another comfortable victory for Hoffenheim against Schalke on Tuesday.

The visitors were outclassed against their opponents on Friday and we expect no different in the DFB-Pokal this week, with Kramer likely to lose his job as a result.

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