Schalke 04 welcome the visitors Fortuna Dusseldorf in the German DFB Pokal – 1/8 Finals. The match will be held on Wednesday, February, 6th, at the Veltins Arena (Gelsenkirchen).
In 1/32 DFB Pokal final, Schalke 04 won FC Schweinfurt 05 away, 0:2. In the first round of that encounter, Bentaleb converted a penalty, and in the second one, Nastasic found the net, increasing Schalke’s breakaway. The 1/16 final turned very tough for the team, as they managed to overcome FC Koln only by penalties, with the general scoreline of 2:1. Schalke could have conceded yet in the normal time, but two minutes before the whistle, a penalty was awarded, and it was successfully converted. The ‘Die Knappen’s Bundesliga performance is weak, the team are placed in the middle of the table, taking the twelfth tier.
Fortuna Dusseldorf’s path to the 1/8 final was quite easy. In 1/32 fixture, they smashed TuS RW Koblenz, 5:0. Lukebakio bragged a brace there. In the next round, the team were victorious over SSV Ulm 1846 away, 1:5. Lukebakio again notched a brace, and Ducksch also scored twice.
Schalke won Fortuna in two previous head-to-heads, regularly netting them two goals. ‘Die Knappen’s run in the Cup is challenging, while Fortuna are highly effective and looking decent overall, therefore, the guests are expected to oppose the homeside well – the latter have Bundesliga issues and need to care of this as well Anyways, the home match factor and Schalke’s performers’ level benefit the hosts. We bet on their win tomorrow.
Prediction for the match: Schalke 04 to win home.
