Schalke 04 play host to VfB Stuttgart at the Veltins Arena on Saturday evening. 

The Royal Blues lie sixth in the league table and come into the game having drawn their last two encounters, 3-3 against Entracht Frankfurt in the Bundesliga followed by a 0-0 stalemate in their Champions League tie with Steaua Bucharest. Stuttgart currently occupy ninth position , five points behind Schalke, after suffering a 2-0 defeat to Borussia Monchengladbach last weekend.

A victory for the hosts would see them move above Wolfsburg, who drew with Hamburg on Friday evening, into fifth place. However, if Stuttgart are triumphant they could move up as far as seventh, provided Mainz and Hertha BSC are both beaten.

Schalke coach Jens Keller is facing his former club, has Julian Draxler and Kevin-Prince Boateng returning. However, defender Dennis Aogo looks set to miss the rest of the season after suffering a Grade II tear of his cruciate ligament in training. Timo Hildebrand is struggling with a hip injury, so Ralf Fährmann will continue in goal. Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, Marco Höger and Kyriakos Papadopoulos remain long-term absentees. Stuttgart have no new injury worries, but Cacau and Arthur Boka remain on the sidelines.

Schalke coach Jens Keller said: "The fact I'll be facing my former teammates Thomas Schneider and Fredi Bobic has no bearing on the way I prepare for the game.

"Stuttgart didn't play during the week. But we're not complaining about the extra workload. We were desperate to play in the Champions League and fought all season to get there. We've drawn our last two games and if we're to get back to winning ways against Stuttgart we'll need a compact team performance."

Meanwhile, his counterpart Thomas Schneider was full of praise for his former teammate's side:  “Schalke is a good yardstick for us.

"They have a superb roster and Jens Keller is doing a good job. Schalke have individual players who can decide matches."

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About the author
Jamie Hall
Cycling editor and football writer. Currently studying sports journalism at university.