VfL’s second milestone meeting of the second half of the 2022/23 campaign takes them to Gelsenkirchen, where they face bottom-of-the-table Schalke 04 at the Veltins-Arena on Friday 10 February (kick-off 20:30 CET) in what will be the teams’ 50th Bundesliga encounter. While Niko Kovac’s Wolves have lost their last two games in the league, promoted Schalke have managed to grind out back-to-back goalless draws. However, if their recent record against S04 is anything to go by, the Green-and-Whites can be confident of returning to winning ways against Thomas Reis’ team.
More facts and figures
- Unbeaten run: The Wolves are unbeaten in six competitive meetings with Schalke (five in the Bundesliga and one in the DFB Cup), registering four wins and two draws.
- Recent form: After a run of 10 losses in 11 games, Schalke managed to avoid defeat against Köln and Mönchengladbach recently. As for the Wolves, Kovac’s men made a strong start after the winter break but were then beaten in Bremen and at home to Bayern Munich.
- New-look Schalke: In Moritz Jenz, Jere Uronen, Eder Balanta, Tim Skarke and Soichiro Kozuki, who was promoted from the second team to the senior side, Schalke’s starting line-up against Gladbach included five new faces. Summer signings Cedric Brunner, Maya Yoshida, Alex Kral and Tom Krauß also featured.
- Much greater goal threat: While S04 have only found the net once since the winter break, the Wolves have scored 14 times in four games – as many as Schalke have managed in the Bundesliga all season.
