Schalke 04 vs Union Berlin 30/11/19

30 November 2019

Schalke 04 welcome Union Berlin to the Veltins Arena for their first-ever Bundesliga (BL) encounter.

Unbeaten in their last four BL outings (W2, D2), the hosts have climbed to fifth in the table, only three points adrift of league toppers Borussia Monchengladbach. However, the Miners have played out three consecutive draws at home ahead of this clash, two of which have come against the sides from the bottom half of the table. Surprisingly, just nine of a total of 22 BL goals they’ve scored so far have arrived on home turf (40%), with Schalke drawing a blank in two of six BL home games this term. Another potential worry for Die Königsblauen is that they’ve failed to keep a clean sheet in four home matches already, allowing over 2.5 goals per league home game twice in the process.

Meanwhile, the visitors travel to the Veltins Arena on a run of three consecutive league wins that have propelled them five points clear of the relegation zone. While two of those triumphs saw Union Berlin keep a blank sheet, two witnessed them keep a clean sheet too. Moreover, the top-flight debutants took a big scalp last time out, beating Borussia Monchengladbach 2-0 at home. But, just four of their total 16 BL points have come away from home (25%), with Union losing in three of five BL road trips so far (W1, D1, L3). All of those defeats have come in a row and saw Urs Fischer’s score one goal in total. In fact, before beating Mainz 3-2, they netted one goal or less in four successive league road trips.