Schalke 04 vs Bayern Munich 25/08/19

25 August 2019

Schalke 04 will kick off their 2019/20 Bundesliga (BL) home campaign this weekend when they welcome Bayern Munich to the Veltins Arena.

The hosts’ dismal recent record against Bayern promises nothing but suffering for the home fans. Schalke’s last BL win over the Bavarians dates back to 2010, after which they’ve struggled to outscore arch-rivals in 17 subsequent league H2Hs (D3, L14). The Miners have started the new league season with a goalless away draw with Borussia Monchengladbach, which was their fourth consecutive BL stalemate – three of which have ended with the same 0-0 scoreline. Another frustrating fact for the Royal Blues is that they are winless in their last eight BL home games (D3, L5). Toothless in the final third, David Wagner’s men have failed to find the net in six of those matches, allowing 2+ match goals four times in the process.

Meanwhile, the visitors were held to a 2-2 home draw by Hertha in the BL curtain-raiser but have still extended their unbeaten BL run to 15 games (W11, D4). Three of those draws have, however, arrived away from home and all have featured under 2.5 goals. The Bavarians can still rely on the fact that no German team has returned more away BL points last term (36), with the reigning BL holders pulling off 11 wins in 17 BL trips (64.7%) during the 2018/19 league campaign. Also, Niko Kovac’s side conceded fewer away goals than any other BL outfit last season (18), allowing an average of 1.05 goals per away match.