FC Schalke vs Hertha Berlin predicted XI: Let’s move on

FC Schalke will move past the Bayern Munich debacle to face Hertha Berlin, desperate to rebound. Here is how they should line up in this vital statement match.

FC Schalke were slaughtered against Bayern Munich. There’s nothing we can do about that. It’s over. This club that was supposed to be competing for the title was unhinged by another team competing for the title. What that does for the long-term starts against Hertha Berlin.

Thankfully, the match is on Friday, so it’s the earliest possible opportunity for us to move past the embarrassing defeat and get back to winning. But the big question is how David Wagner has managed to pull his men back into confidence. How do they not come into this match rattled? It’s no easy task.

Hertha Berlin are in fine fettle, especially at home, and especially under Jurgen Klinsmann. This will not be an easy task for Schalke, which just adds to the necessity that they come away from this match with three points.

Moving on to team news, it’s looking like Die Knappen will be without Jonjoe Kenny due to illness, as well as Ahmed Kutucu due to injury. Benjamin Stambouli and Salif Sane are still recovering as well.

Benito Raman and Weston McKennie are back, however, and these two guys are extremely important to how this match pans out.

David Wagner’s first task is to fill in the missing pieces for the injured few, but that shouldn’t be difficult. His next task is to shape this club in such a way that we don’t end up completely losing our heads like we did against Bayern. That, also, should be easy, as I still hold to my belief that Bayern was an anomaly that won’t be repeated. Ever again.

As for the formation, my wager is on a 4-3-3 kind of set up, perhaps veering into a 4-1-4-1 depending on how the match pans out.

And so, let’s dig into the starting XI, starting with the keeper.

Keeper

Markus Schubert had a terrible match against Bayern Munich. While he made some clutch saves, he was also left woefully exposed by his own mishaps numerous times. To add to that, he got hurt. So now we have to let Alexander Nubel back into the starting job, despite his departure to who else but Bayern Munich next year. Yack.

Defense is next.