Schalke 04 host Stuttgart in a relegation six-pointer in the Bundesliga's Saturday night game.
Schalke drew 0-0 for the fourth successive match last weekend, while Stuttgart ended a winless run of six matches to move outside of the bottom three.
Match preview
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Having lost 12 of their opening 17 league games this season, putting together an unbeaten run of four league matches should not be underestimated for Schalke in their current position.
Indeed, Thomas Reis lost five of his first six league matches in charge after taking over in late October, with Die Konigsblauen looking near certainties to fall straight back down to Germany's second tier after being promoted as champions last season.
However, after holding FC Koln, Borussia Monchengladbach and Wolfsburg to goalless draws in recent weeks, Reis' side secured arguably their most impressive result yet with another 0-0 draw away to title contenders Union Berlin on Sunday.
As such, they head into a more winnable fixture at home against Stuttgart only six points behind them and safety, so there is plenty of incentive for them to turn their recent draws into a victory and end their winless run of seven matches in the process.
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While draws are always better than losing, it is generally victories that keep teams up, with Stuttgart's fourth of the season against Koln last weekend potentially a priceless one.
Despite recently beating SC Paderborn to progress to the quarter-finals of the DFB-Pokal, Bruno Labbadia had failed to win any of his five leagues games since returning to take charge of Stuttgart for a second time in December, but that run came to an end with a healthy 3-0 win against Koln at the Mercedes-Benz Arena.
Gil Dias got the hosts off to a flier by breaking the deadlock in the ninth minute, with Borna Sosa and Tanguy Coulibaly securing all three points for their side with second-half strikes.
It was a richly deserved win for Labbadia's side, too, with them registering 17 shots in total across the course of the 90 minutes, forcing Marvin Schwabe into four saves on top of the three goals the visiting goalkeeper conceded.
Having moved outside of the relegation places on goal difference, Die Schwaben will sense a serious opportunity to potentially put further distance between themselves and the bottom three by securing a successive win against their forthcoming rock-bottom opponents.
Team News
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Schalke's recent knack of proving tough to beat is all the more impressive considering their extensive injury list, with Jere Uronen, Cedric Brunner, Tobias Mohr, Soichiro Kozuki, Tim Skarke, Sebastian Polter and Justin Heekeren all ruled out of facing Stuttgart this weekend.
However, Marcin Kaminski, Danny Latza, Sepp van den Berg and Niklas Tauer should all be available for selection after not making the trip to Berlin due to a lack of match fitness, but Reis' only changes are likely to be to bring Thomas Ouwejan and Mehmet Aydin into the side at full-back.
Stuttgart, meanwhile, will travel without Serhou Guirassy due to a tendon issue, but otherwise Labbadia looks to have a clean bill of health after Pascal Stenzel made his comeback from a thigh injury to feature from the bench against Koln.
After securing such an impressive victory against Steffen Baumgart's side, it would be a surprise if Labbadia made any changes to his starting XI, with the likes of Coulibaly and Luca Pfeiffer capable of making an offensive impact at some point during the second half should they be required to do so.
Schalke 04 possible starting lineup:
Fahrmann; Aydin, Yoshida, Jenz, Ouwejan; Kral, Krauss; Drexler, Zalazar, Bulter; Frey
Stuttgart possible starting lineup:
Bredlow; Anton, Mavropanos, Ito, Sosa; Endo, Karazor, Haraguchi; Dias, Silas, Fuhrich
We say: Schalke 04 0-0 Stuttgart
Having been involved in four consecutive goalless draws, Schalke have clearly tightened up defensively in recent weeks, but Reis will be looking for his side to display more offensive threat against an opponent also fighting against relegation.
However, with so much at stake in this match, it would not be a surprise to see Schalke draw 0-0 yet again. Stuttgart will have been buoyed by keeping a clean sheet last weekend and may not be too disappointed to avoid defeat once again.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Brett Curtis
