1. Bundesliga
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Played
February 4, 2012 9:30 AM EST
Veltins-Arena — Gelsenkirchen
Referee:‬ D. Aytekin‎
Attendance:‬ 60557‎
 

Bundesliga Preview: Schalke - Mainz

Konigsblauen skipper Benedikt Howedes returns to face Thomas Tuchel's outfit, which is a mere three points away from the Bundesliga's drop zone.

By Stephen Crawford

More On :  Mainz , Schalke 04, Schalke 04 vs Mainz
German Bundesliga: Schalke vs Stuttgart
Bongarts

 PROBABLE LINEUPS

SCHALKE

Schalke
Unnerstall
Howedes, Papadopoulos, Metzelder, Fuchs
Hoger, Matip
Obasi, Raul, Draxler
Huntelaar
MAINZ


Wetklo
Pospech, Bungert, Noveski, Fathi
Kirchhoff, Polanski, Soto
N. Muller
Szalai, Choupo-Moting

The big news for the home side is that captain Benedikt Howedes has returned to the side after recovering from a fractured cheekbone incurred in late January when the Germany international clashed with teammate Marco Hoger.

However, the bad news for Huub Stevens is that Lewis Holtby, Peer Kluge and Ralf Fahrmann remain sidelined, while Jermaine Jones must miss this one out due to suspension.

For Mainz, Bo Svensson, Stefan Bell and Marcel Risse are all out through injury, while Tunisia striker Sami Allagui is unavailable for selection due to being at the Africa Cup of Nations.


 DID YOU KNOW
  • Historically, Schalke is superior to Mainz at both home and away. In 11 encounters so far between the two sides, Schalke has won seven times, lost three and drawn once.
  • Last season, Mainz had its first success at the Veltins-Arena after six consecutive losses. Lewis Holtby, who is now a Schalke a player, was one of the scorers in the win on that day.
  • Coincidentally, another player who was at Mainz last season and now plays for Schalke. Christian Fuchs, is the only player in the host team who has featured in every minute of his club's 19 Bundesliga matches this campaign.
  • Mainz is the only team in the German top flight to have gone on to lose a match after going 2-0 up this season. Any guesses as to who it was against? Exactly – Schalke won 4-2 at the Coface Arena back in August.
  • Klaas-Jan Huntelaar could become the fifth non-German player – and the 20th Schalke player – to score more than 25 Bundesliga goals. Currently on 24, the Dutchman is closely followed by Raul (23) and Jefferson Farfan (22).

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Field Report
Reader's Predictions
Top 3 Predictions
  • Schalke 04 3-1 Mainz
    29.56 %
  • Schalke 04 3-0 Mainz
    16.35 %
  • Schalke 04 2-0 Mainz
    12.58 %
Head to Head
1. Bundesliga ‎(GER1)‎ Feb 4, 2012 Schalke 04 1 - Mainz 1
  • Player Ratings
  • Match Report
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1. Bundesliga ‎(GER1)‎ Aug 21, 2011 Mainz 2 - Schalke 04 4
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1. Bundesliga ‎(GER1)‎ May 7, 2011 Schalke 04 1 - Mainz 3
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1. Bundesliga ‎(GER1)‎ Dec 12, 2010 Mainz 0 - Schalke 04 1
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1. Bundesliga ‎(GER1)‎ May 8, 2010 Mainz 0 - Schalke 04 0
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Last Five Matches
Schalke 04
May 5, 2012Werder Bremen 2 - Schalke 04 3GER1
Apr 28, 2012Schalke 04 4 - Hertha BSC 0GER1
Apr 22, 2012FC Augsburg 1 - Schalke 04 1GER1
Apr 14, 2012Schalke 04 1 - Borussia Dortmund 2GER1
Apr 11, 2012Nürnberg 4 - Schalke 04 1GER1
Mainz
May 5, 2012Mainz 0 - Mönchengladbach 3GER1
Apr 28, 2012Hamburger 0 - Mainz 0GER1
Apr 20, 2012Mainz 0 - Wolfsburg 0GER1
Apr 14, 2012Bayern 0 - Mainz 0GER1
Apr 10, 2012Mainz 4 - FC Köln 0GER1
Team News
Available Squads
36Lars UnnerstallGoalkeeper
4Benedikt HöwedesDefender
14Kyriakos PapadopoulosDefender
23Christian FuchsDefender
12Marco HögerMidfielder
31Julian DraxlerMidfielder
32Joel MatipMidfielder
7RaúlStriker
8Ciprian MaricaStriker
20Chinedu Ogbuke ObasiStriker
25Klaas-Jan HuntelaarStriker
34Timo HildebrandGoalkeeper
3Sergio EscuderoDefender
21Christoph MetzelderDefender
18JuradoMidfielder
28Christoph MoritzMidfielder
17Jefferson Agustin FarfánStriker
20Teemu PukkiStriker
29Christian WetkloGoalkeeper
2Zdenek PospechDefender
4Nikolce NoveskiDefender
8Radoslav ZabavnikDefender
15Jan KirchhoffDefender
26Niko BungertDefender
6Marco CaligiuriMidfielder
7Eugen PolanskiMidfielder
19Elkin SotoMidfielder
10Eric Maxim Choupo-MotingStriker
35Mohamed ZidanStriker
33Heinz MüllerGoalkeeper
18Malik FathiDefender
11Yunus MalliMidfielder
14Julian BaumgartlingerMidfielder
27Nicolai MüllerMidfielder
13Anthony UjahStriker
30Deniz YilmazStriker
Players to Watch
Klaas-Jan Huntelaar
Klaas-Jan Huntelaar
Position: Striker
Squad Number: 25
Games Goals YC RC
32 29 1 0
Mohamed Zidan
Mohamed Zidan
Position: Striker
Squad Number: 35
Games Goals YC RC
12 7 0 0
Prediction
Editor's Prediction
Schalke 3
Mainz 0
Results
ALL MATCHES >>
 
Top Scorers
Player   Goals Penalties
Klaas-Jan Huntelaar Klaas-Jan Huntelaar
Striker
Schalke 		29 6
Mario Gomez Mario Gomez
Striker
FC Bayern München 		26 4
Robert Lewandowski Robert Lewandowski
Striker
Borussia Dortmund 		22 0
Lukas Podolski Lukas Podolski
Striker
FC Koln 		18 3
Claudio Pizarro Claudio Pizarro
Striker
Werder Bremen 		18 2