Don't know if the Germans have a phrase for absolute cracker but there is no doubt that we have the prospect of a great game tonight involving Schalke and Stuttgart, two of the form sides of the Bundesliga.
Schalke 04 sit in second place in the table and can go above Bayern if they win tonight. If they do it will be their eight straight home win and set them up for a series of games that will decide their challenge. After facing the Stuttgart tonight the next three clashes involve Hamburg and Leverkusen away and Bayern at home. Magath, as always, is not looking beyond this game.
"Of course (the table) doesn't lie, but all it says right now is how good we are after 25 matches,'' he said at his press conference "Against Frankfurt, we dealt with the situation better than we have in the previous two games. Now we have got to see if that was just coincidental or whether we really have improved.''
Schalke don't have any European commitments and this could prove crucial as the season reaches the climax. As their home record articulates they are a tough nut to crack nine home wins are accompanied by two defeats and two draws. The defeats came back at the start of September.
Stuttgart under the new coach have become born again Christians. When Christian Gross took over in December the side were second bottom of the Bundesliga and searching for the Champions League exit door. Currently they find themselves in seventh place in the Bundesliga and taking a draw to the Camp Nou next week for the second leg. They haven't tasted defeat away from home under the man with the religious name.
Both sides are waiting on one potential line up change but there are no betting critical selection issues.
At puntinplay we strongly fancy the draw as the value option and can see a few goals in the game. Play 2-2 and 3-3 on the correct score markets at around 17 and 81 respectively.
