Our next opponents: Rediscovered love for a clean sheet

Position

Schalke's run continued in Augsburg: The Royal Blues remained unbeaten in their eighth game in the Rückrunde with a 1-1 draw away to FC Augsburg. The team under coach Thomas Reis have clocked up two wins and six draws in the second half of the season. The 49-year-old took over the position as head coach from Frank Kramer at the end of October. Reis had been sacked by VfL Bochum after matchday six. Now he has provided stability and hope in the battle against relegation at Schalke. The Royal Blues are next to bottom with 21 points level with Hertha Berlin in sixteenth. They are just one point behind TSG Hoffenheim in fifteenth. And Bochum are also within reach with a four-point gap to fourteenth spot in the Bundesliga.

The situation was even more threatening for Schalke at the start of the year. Following a 6-1 home defeat to RB Leipzig, they were bottom again and seven points behind the teams in fifteenth and sixteenth. The heavy defeat produced a response. It was followed by four goalless draws in succession (at home to FC Köln and VfL Wolfsburg, and away to Borussia Mönchengladbach and Union Berlin), two wins against VfB Stuttgart (2-1) and Bochum (2-0) and they came from behind twice at home to Borussia Dortmund to draw 2-2 in the 100th Bundesliga Revierderby. An important point for Royal and Blue confidence. Thomas Reis took a different view of the 1-1 draw at FC Augsburg last weekend with Schalke playing almost all the second half with an extra man following a red card for the FCA player Ermedin Demirovic. "It's difficult to say whether we dropped two points or won one," said the coach. His team levelled with Augsburg from the penalty spot three minutes into added time with Marius Bülter scoring to secure a point

Personnel

Reis will have to manage without central defender Moritz Jenz in the game against the Werkself., The 23-year-old, brought in on loan from top-flight French side FC Lorient in January, suffered a thigh injury in Augsburg. Thomas Ouwejan, who was recently sidelined for four games with muscular problems, could return to the squad on Saturday. The 26-year-old Dutchman recently picked up some match practice with a 45 minute appearance in a friendly against the Dutch club VVV Venlo (2-0). It remains to be seen whether that will be enough for a longer appearance against the Werkself. If the left-back is in the starting line-up then the Germany U21 international Henning Matriciani could play in central defence in place of Jenz alongside Maya Yoshida. Matriciani has recently impressed on the left side of defence and has become a crowd favourite at Schalke with an outstanding display against BVB. Leo Greiml is another option in the centre of defence. Cédric Brunner is the first choice on the right side of the defence..

In addition to Jenz, a number of other Schalke players will be sidelined on Saturday: Defenders Jere Uronen (groin), Marcin Kaminski (back) and Sepp van den Berg (after-effects of a foot injury) are unavailable as are the midfielder Soichiro Kozuki (ankle operation) and striker Sebastian Polter (torn cruciate). The 32-year-old, who suffered the injury at a training camp at the start of the year, is making quicker progress than expected in his recovery and he has already returned to the training ground. "It would be great if he could play one or two games this season," said Schalke 04 team manager Gerald Asamoah. There is still a question mark over winter signing Tim Skarke. The winger on loan from Union Berlin has a foot injury. "We have to take it day by day with him," said Asamoah. And it could be tight with striker Kenan Karaman who is on his way back from a calf injury.

However, there are positive developments for Schalke in terms of personnel: Midfield dynamo Dominick Drexler, sidelined since the start of March with a thigh injury, is an option again against Bayer 04. Tom Krauß and Alex Kral, who returned early from international duty this week, could also be available on Saturday. Captain Danny Latza could return to the squad after recovering from a muscle injury.

Performers

"We have to have a clean sheet," was the maxim of legendary Schalke coach Huub Stevens. The Royal Blues appear to have remembered that. Schalke 04 have kept five clean sheets in the eight games and only conceded four goals in the Rückrunde so far. That's the best return in the league. By comparison: Direct rivals TSG Hoffenheim and Hertha Berlin have let in four times as many goals in the same period, that is 18. And even Bayern Munich and Bayer 04 have each conceded 12 goals.

Schalke have proved to be difficult to break down in the Rückrunde due to aggressive challenges and intensive running. Ahead of the game at FC Augsburg, Thomas Reis warned against the tough approach from the Bavarian team, but added straightaway: "We are equally tricky at the end of the day." The new solidity in defence is also down to Ralf Fährmann. The current run of form started when the keeper made his first appearance of the season in the goalless draw against FC Köln on matchday 18. On matchday 17, Schalke were rock bottom and had the worst defence in the league having conceded 41 goals. They currently have the best defensive record and are eighth in the Rückrunde form table. Fährmann has made the highest number of saves of all the Bundesliga keepers with a success rate of 86.7%.

Just as the 34-year-old is the rock at the back for the Royal Blues, Marius Bülter can be relied on for scoring for his team in attack. The left winger, who was 30 on Wednesday, has scored a goal in each of the last four games. On his birthday, he received the Goal of the Month medal for his back-heel goal in the 2-1 win against VfB Stuttgart. The striker has so far netted seven goals and provided two assists.

Problems

With the exception of Bülter, the Royal Blues are less prolific up front with only 21 goals in 25 games. No other team has found the back of the net less often than Schalke 04. The Swiss player Michael Frey, signed on loan from Royal Antwerp in January 2023 following the injury to Sebastian Polter, has provided three assists to date. In addition to Bülter, only Simon Terodde (3) and Dominick Drexler (3) have scored more than one goal. It is no surprise that the Reis team have the worst return of all Bundesliga clubs in terms of shots on target and converting chances.

Prediction

The in-form Schalke team are definitely up and running. For a long time they were marooned at the bottom of the table. The 6-1 defeat at home to RB Leipzig eight weeks ago appears to have opened up everybody's eyes. The big club have shown a completely different character since then, taken on the battle against relegation and are minded to work hard. One thing is clear for Thomas Reis, "that's the way we’ll play until the end of the season." The next three games up to the middle of April are extremely important for the Royal Blues.

The home game against the Werkself is followed by two clashes against direct rivals the bottom of the table. If Schalke 04 can get results in the matches away to TSG Hoffenheim on 9 April and at home to Hertha Berlin on 14 April that could be a chance to turn things round and take a big step towards avoiding relegation. Before the game against the Werkself, Reis has promised: "We definitely won't be like a rabbit caught in the headlights. You have to produce 100% if you want to beat Leverkusen. And that's what we’ll do."