Schalke vs. Hamburg: probable line-ups, match stats and LIVE blog!

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Twice promoted from Bundesliga 2 and a three-time top goalscorer in the division, Terodde will be key to Schalke's bid for an immediate return to the Bundesliga. The 33-year-old has registered 142 goals in 253 games in Germany's second tier, including a team-leading 24 for Hamburg in 2020/21. His experience provides head coach Dimitrios Grammozis with the ideal counterweight to Matthew Hoppe in the Schalke attack. The 20-year-old US international was the Royal Blues' leading marksman last term with six goals, despite only being promoted to the first team in January. Had he got the nod sooner, Die Knappen may well have skipped the trap door. In any case, he will miss the Bundesliga 2 opener due to his USMNT commitments at the CONCACAF Gold Cup. There have been wholesale changes to the squad that finished bottom of the Bundesliga, with the likes of Suat Serdar, Benito Raman, Shkodran Mustafi and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar shipping out. Morocco international Amine Harit is still a Schalke player, though, while Marius Bülter, Danny Latza and Marcin Kaminski have dropped down a division in an effort to ensure the Ruhr club's fourth stint in Bundesliga 2 is a short one.

Hamburg know all too well how difficult it is to escape Bundesliga 2's clutches. Since being relegated from the Bundesliga for the first time in 2018, HSV have finished fourth for three straight seasons. The Red Shorts have got through five coaches in that time, with Tim Walter the latest charged with ending the three-time Bundesliga champions' top-flight exile. The 45-year-old's only previous full campaign as a Bundesliga 2 head coach ended in a sixth-placed finish with Holstein Kiel. He won nine of 18 matches at the VfB Stuttgart helm during the first half of 2019/20, before being dismissed. With Terodde gone, the goal-scoring onus will be shared by the likes of Bakery Jatta and the currently sidelined Sonny Kittel, as well as summer signings Mikkel Kaufmann and Robert Glatzel, the latter a scorer of two goals in 13 Bundesliga appearances for Mainz during the 2020/21 Rückrunde. At the other end, first-choice goalkeeper Tom Mickel has been sidelined by a dislocated shoulder. Like Schalke, Hamburg went unbeaten through pre-season, winning three of their four games.

Match stats

Hoppe is embarking on his first full season as a professional. The Californian has produced six goals and one assist in his first 24 senior outings at club level.

Schalke's first two seasons in the second tier ended in immediate promotion back to the Bundesliga. Their most recent stint lasted three years, before they went up as 1990/91 Bundesliga 2 champions.

The Royal Blues won 38 of their 100 Bundesliga meetings with HSV, but also lost 38, drawing 24. They are unbeaten in their last seven home games against the Red Shorts.

Kittel was Hamburg's next best scorer after Terodde in 2020/21, with nine goals.

Jatta had a direct hand in nine Bundesliga goals last season, scoring five.

HSV were the highest-scoring team in Bundesliga 2 last term (71 goals).

Probable line-ups

Schalke: Langer - Ranfl, Thiaw, Kaminski, Ouwejan - Palsson, Mascarell - Aydin, Latza (c), Bülter - Terodde

Out: Fährmann (not included), Hoppe (international duty), Matondo (knee)

Doubtful: -

Coach: Dimitrios Grammozis

Hamburg: Heuer Fernandes - Gyamerah, Schonlau (c), David, Leibold - Meffert, Reis, Kinsombi - Wintzheimer, Glatzel, Jatta

Out: Ambrosius (ankle), Bates (muscular), Kittel (leg), Mickel (shoulder), Vagnoman (muscular)

Doubtful: -

Coach: Tim Walter