FC Schalke 04: Ahmed Kutucu misses Frankfurt game with foot injury

FC Schalke 04 know they need to give 19-year-old forwards Rabbi Matondo and Ahmed Kutucu more opportunities heading into 2020, but the latter will have to wait for real chance due to a recent foot injury.

Benito Raman has been an important breakout star at the forward position for FC Schalke 04 since returning from an injury. The Belgium international has scored in each of his last three games and is in excellent form. However, Raman alone hasn’t been enough to help the Royal Blues’ attack play to its full potential, as they were inconsistent in last week’s 2-1 loss to Bayer Leverkusen

With Mark Uth out for the rest of 2019 with an adductor injury, David Wagner has no excuses when it comes to giving Rabbi Matondo and Ahmed Kutucu opportunities to shine. The two 19-year-old strikers have shown serious potential this season. Matondo was the best attacking player in the Revierderby, while Kutucu played a vital role in the build-up to both of Schalke’s last two late goals.

Kutucu’s recent performances as a substitute seemed to indicate he would get a chance to start alongside Raman on Sunday against Eintracht Frankfurt, but Schalke have announced that he is dealing with a foot injury.

The Turkey international bruised his foot in training and was unable to be in the starting lineup or on the substitutes’ bench against Frankfurt. In his place, fellow youngster Matondo drew the start next to Raman, with Guido Burgstaller, who still has zero goals this season and started last week at Bayer, on the bench.

Matondo and Kutucu have both been significantly better than Uth and Burgstaller this season, though there is hope Uth can still find his Hoffenheim form in 2020 after recovering from these recurring adductor problems.

Kutucu will get his chances after the foot injury subsides, though Schalke are on a quick turnaround after Frankfurt with a game against VFL Wolfsburg on Wednesday. In the meantime, Matondo has a massive opportunity to impress and should cause plenty of problems for Frankfurt’s up-and-down defense.