FC Schalke 04 vs Hertha Berlin predicted XI in DFB-Pokal revisit
By Josh Sippie
FC Schalke 04 will turn right back around to face Hertha Berlin again, this time in the DFB-Pokal third round. Here’s how they should line up.
Nothing quite like facing a team, then turning around and facing them again three days later. That’s what FC Schalke 04 have on their plate. After traveling to the capital to fight out a scoreless draw against Hertha Berlin, they will now turn around and play host to the same Hertha in the Veltins, looking for a better result to get them into the next round.
As we saw on Friday, Hertha know how to fight. They defended magnificently to match Die Knappen’s own defensive brilliance and now that both teams have a familiarity with each other, they’ll be looking to gain the advantage.
Of course, there will be some rotation in the squads, not least of all because of injuries.
For FC Schalke 04, they had several injuries plaguing them in the Bundesliga fixture. Jonjoe Kenny was out sick, Ahmed Kutucu got hurt and Suat Serdar had to leave the match early due to his own injury.
Of those three, given the short turnaround, it’s probably only Kenny that will be back in the mix. Seeing that he was only ill, his health should have recovered by now and he’ll be looking to get back into the thick of things.
Elsewhere, expect some general rotation from David Wagner. He’s got a lot of guys that have been inching closer to playing time and this would be an excellent chance to sprinkle a little new spice into the mix, along with some key new arrivals and still yet some old guard wanting to prove they’re still up to the task.
So let’s dig in. My bet is on a sort of 4-3-1-2 formation, and the personnel should look something like this:
Keeper
Alexander Nubel has been handed the reigns of the Bundesliga again, meaning that Markus Schubert should slide into the DFB-Pokal role. That is, assuming he’s return from the injury that kept him out of the selection process against Hertha last time.
Schubert needs this, he needs to prove that he isn’t rattled. That’s his best chance of convincing Wagner that Nubel shouldn’t be the one starting.
On to the defense.