Schalke 04: 3 players that can make a difference against FC Augsburg

Without knowing how Schalke 04 will line up against Augsburg, these three guys are going to be involved and they are in the best position to make a difference.

Schalke 04 really needs to leave the Revierderby behind, though that’s no easy feat. Getting thrashed 4-0 to your hated rivals after a two-month pause to re-center the team never is an easy thing to leave behind. But for the sake of their European hopes and the sake of fans’ sanity, a result against Augsburg has never been more crucial.

Part of that falls on David Wagner and choosing the right personnel. Of course, I’m referring to Ahmed Kutucu, but deeper than that, it comes down to the individual level. The players were awful against Dortmund. Not a single guy had a positive performance. That has to change. Someone has to step up.

So I’ve come up with three nominations for guys that we can realistically expect to do more than they did against Dortmund. Not that that’s saying all that much, but some improvement is better than no improvement.

3 Schalke difference-makers against Augsburg

With it likely that Omar Mascarell, Benjamin Stambouli, and Jean-Clair Todibo will all miss out due to injury, that limits the selection a bit, but we still have the talent and the personnel to make this match feel, dare I say, easy.

Here are those three guys.

3. Salif Sane

I know, I go on and on about Salif Sane and how he’s one of the most underrated centerbacks in the world. And I fully realize that he did not play like one of the best centerbacks in the world against Borussia Dortmund.

But to again highlight what he went through. A supposedly season-ending knee injury that interrupted tremendous form. Then, right when he would come back to training, a two-month pause where no training was allowed. And then thrown right back into the fray against an inspired Dortmund.

Hard not to struggle in that situation.

But Salif Sane is still Salif Sane and he is going to come back and get better and better the more we see of him. He can hold this defense together to prevent another relapse into another defensive collapse.

On to No. 2.