The 17th and last round in the German Bundesliga before the winter break starts on Friday with the fixture between FC Schalke 04 and 1. FSV Mainz 05. Schalke is second of the league table and could take over the lead at least till Saturday if they win against Mainz. Mainz 05 faces rank 8 but they are since 4 games without a win.
Last season coach Felix Magath managed VfL Wolfsburg to the first championship of history, this season he could manage Schalke 04 to the first German championship since more than 50 years (last championship 1958). S04 faces after 16 rounds rank 2. Therewith they are 1 point behind Bayer Leverkusen and 1 point in front of Bayern München. Schalke 04 has won 3 of their last 4 league games, above all the performance at the 2-0 away win over Werder Bremen was impressive.
FSV Mainz 05 plays a very good first season leg so far. They are in the upper side of the league table. Therewith Mainz should not be involved in the struggle against relegation. The last 4 Bundesliga rounds brought 3 draws and 1 win, so they lost the contact to the leading clubs. Mainz 05 has won only 1 of their 8 away games (1 win, 3 draws and 4 defeats). So the Tuchel men are only on rank 16 in the away table. The last away game ended at Frankfurt with a 0-2 defeat.
FC Schalke 04 and 1. FSV Mainz 05 met 6-times in the Bundesliga. Schalke won 4 games, Mainz won 2 matches. Mainz 05 has lost all 3 games at Schalke and scored only 1 goal in these 3 matches.
FC Schalke 04 vs 1. FSV Mainz 05
German Bundesliga: Matchday 17
Friday, 18.12.2009, 8:30 pm CET
Gelsenkirchen, VELTINS-Arena
Injured:
FC Schalke 04: Christian Pander, Jermaine Jones, Levan Kenia, Vassilios Pliatsikas
FSV Mainz 05: Chadli Amri, Dimo Wache
Head-To-Head:
14.04.2007: Mainz 05 - Schalke 04 0:3
11.11.2006: Schalke 04 - Mainz 05 4:0
06.05.2006: Mainz 05 - Schalke 04 1:0
10.12.2005: Schalke 04 - Mainz 05 1:0
20.03.2005: Mainz 05 - Schalke 04 2:1
24.10.2004: Schalke 04 - Mainz 05 2:1
My tip: Schalke 04 is in great form. So I guess that S04 wins the home game against FSV Mainz 05 and suggest tip 1.
The best odd for tip 1 you find at Bwin with 1.45
