Football – Germany – Bundesliga
Saturday 16th May 2015 – Kickoff: 1530hrs
With two matches remaining of the Bundesliga season, hosts Schalke will be keen to make home advantage count this afternoon when they entertain relegation candidates Paderborn as the pressure mounts for european places.
Schalke currently occupy sixth place and the last remaining spot for a Europa League berth but they have stiff competition from the likes of Borussia Dortmund and Werder Bremen who are both just two points adrift of Schalke going into this weekend’s round of matches.
Last time out, Schalke suffered a 2-0 defeat away at Cologne, but they have a great opportunity to set the record straight today on the back of what has been a solid home record all season which stands at 9-5-2 25/14. The hosts have lost just once in their last eight on home turf and they’ve kept six clean sheets at the back too.
Visitors Paderborn also suffered defeat last weekend when they went down 3-1 at home to Wolfsburg which means they’re still situated in the bottom two relegation places of the German top flight with just two matches of the season remaining.
They’ll now be depending on their away form to try and get something from this match which may well be easier said than done, although they did manage all three points in a 2-1 win away at fourth from bottom club Freiburg on their last trip.
But with an overall away record of 3-4-9 10/33 along with four straight defeats recently at the hands of Borussia Moenchengladbach, Eintrach Frankfurt, Hertha Berlin and Borussia Dortmund, it will be another tough ask for the visitors here this afternoon. In addition, Paderborn have failed to beat top half opposition away from home in nine attempts so far this season, losing on six occasions.
To sum up then, this should be a fairly straightforward win for the hosts as they look to guarantee Europa League football for next season, with perhaps a 1-0 victory.
Pick: Schalke straight win @ 1.67 Coral
