FC Schalke 04 are guests at Bayer Leverkusen on Saturday afternoon. This is how S04 coach Frank Kramer looks at the match.

FC Schalke 04 is still waiting for its second win of the season. The next chance comes on Saturday (15:30) when the Königsblauen host Bayer Leverkusen on the ninth Bundesliga matchday.

In the event of a defeat, S04 would have to let Leverkusen, who have made an extremely weak start, pass them and would slip to a relegation place. It could therefore become uncomfortable for the Revierklub, who most recently suffered a 3-2 home defeat against FC Augsburg, which not only hurt them from a sporting point of view.

Schalke: Cedric Brunner about to return

Because with Sepp van den Berg (ligament injury) and Rodrigo Zalazar (metatarsal fracture), two Schalke players have suffered serious injuries and will be out for longer.

“You have to digest these blows first, but now our full focus is on the game against Leverkusen. We have to get even closer together to make up for the absences,” said coach Frank Kramer in a media round on Thursday. Leo Greiml could take over the part of van den Berg, who was last placed in the defensive centre. The young Austrian would make his starting eleven debut in the Bundesliga. Zalazar has been on the bench in the last few weeks anyway.

Good news for Schalke: Cedric Brunner is about to return to the team. The right-back was recently slowed down by muscular problems after a solid start to the season. “He was able to take part in the complete programme. I expect him to be available,” said Kramer. The coach will still have to do without central defenders Marcin Kaminski (laceration) and Ibrahima Cisse (muscle injury). The personnel situation in the centre of defence is therefore tense.

Just like S04, their opponents Leverkusen have only won once this season. This is not at all compatible with the ambitions of the Champions League participants. The European Cup defeat against FC Porto last week (0:2) was one too many, and those responsible reacted on Wednesday by replacing coach Gerardo Seoane with Xabi Alonso. The former world star will make his debut on the sidelines against Schalke.

“That changes things a bit,” Kramer said of the match preparation. “The important thing is that we stay with ourselves. Because even if there is a new coach – the players are the same as before. “