Hoffenheim vs Schalke prediction: GERMANY: Bundesliga betting tips on match 2023-04-08 17:30.
Back-to-back wins may have hauled Hoffenheim out of the relegation zone, but Pellegrino Matarazzo is warning the squad that their hard work must continue to ensure they stay up. After losing his first five games in charge, the new manager has guided his side to recent victories over Hertha Berlin and Werder Bremen, boosting their hopes of remaining in the Bundesliga next season.
The stakes could therefore barely be higher as fellow strugglers Schalke, just four points below the Blues in the table, visit the PreZero Arena. Matarazzo admitted this game is “very important” in his side’s quest for safety, and he will be desperate to improve on a wretched run of seven defeats from their last nine home league outings (W1, D1), during which time they have conceded 20 goals.
Hoffenheim might be confident of turning that form around against the Royal Blues, who have lost seven of the last 12 meetings between these two sides (W2, D3). That may be a bad omen for Thomas Reis’ Schalke side, who are looking to bounce back from a 3-0 hammering at the hands of Bayer Leverkusen last time out which ended an eight-match unbeaten run.
Such form has led defender Leo Greiml to declare he is “confident” they will “stay up”, but with six of those eight matches finishing all square (W2), Schalke have failed to pull clear of danger. Indeed, they are now back in the bottom three and facing a potential fifth relegation of the Bundesliga era, and they must surely improve a horrific away record of one top flight win in 40 attempts since November 2019 (D13, L26) if they are going to avoid the drop.
Key battle: Hoffenheim defender Kevin Vogt has only lost once in eight home H2Hs with Schalke (W5, D2), helping his side keep a clean sheet in half of those games. He will be hoping to get the better of visiting forward Marius BĂĽlter, who after netting four times in his last five outings, is looking to break his goalscoring duck against the Blues (W1, D1, L3).
Hot stat: Schalke have not lost any of the five league games in which they have scored first this season (W4, D1), but have also failed to win a single match when conceding the opening goal (D3, L13).