Schalke have won three of their last four games against SC Freiburg, at the VELTINS-Arena. Freiburg’s last win in Gelsenkirchen came in 2012, where they won 1-3. Freiburg have won twelve of their thirty-one Bundesliga games, which is the highest number of wins Freiburg have recorded against a top-flight side.

Schalke are currently going through a barren run, they’ve only managed thirteen points in the calendar year this year. Their worst second of the season in four years. They ended their poor run in 2011 with a 1-0 win over matchday 28 opponents Freiburg.

Team News

The return of flamboyant playmaker Julian Draxler and speedy Peruvian winger Jefferson Farfan who are in the squad for Freiburg’s visit came as a boost to Roberto Di Matteo. He has been out since early November following a thigh injury, which required surgery. Roman Neudstadter also returns to the squad following suspension, which saw him miss last weekend's 0-0 draw away to Augsburg. The only notable absentees are Chinedu Obasi, Fabian Giefer, Kaan Ayhan and Jan Kirchhoff.

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Freiburg travel to the Ruhr with a clean bill of health, Sascha Riether and Mensur Mudjza will battle out for a starting place at full-back. Julian Schuster will remain on

the bench as Oliver Sorg will likely switch back to defensive midfield following Freiburg’s loss in midweek. Werder Bremen loanee Nils Petersen faces competition up front from Admir Mehmedi and Mike Frantz.

Pre-match Comments:

Schalke boss Roberto di Matteo: “For us three points on Saturday is very important. Freiburg are a team who don’t give you much space, they press well and are good on the counter-attack. They’ve already used a lot of different systems this season. Sometimes 5-4-1, sometimes 4-4-2 or even a 4-2-3-1 system.”

Freiburg manager Christian Streich: “Schalke are always a difficult team to figure out. They’ve won some games easily, but it’s not gone to plan in others. Given their squad and individual quality, they can burst into life at any point. They’re an opponent therefore anything can happen.”

Form:

Schalke: DLWDLD

Freiburg: DLLLWW