Basement duel for FC Schalke. In Hoffenheim, the team of coach Thomas Reis must get something, so it looks before the 90 minutes.

After the defeat against Bayer Leverkusen, the first defeat in 2023, the important basement duel at TSG Hoffenheim is on the agenda for Bundesliga football club FC Schalke 04 (Sunday, 7.30 pm).

Schalke have fallen back to 17th in the table, while TSG have recently won two matches in a row, which means they have jumped to 15th. A win would bring Schalke to within one point, while a defeat would mean TSG would be away for the time being.

However, S04 coach Thomas Reis will still not be able to field the entire squad for the trip to Sinsheim.

He will have to do without Ibrahima Cissé (yellow card for the U23), Justin Heekeren (cruciate ligament injury), Soichiro Kozuki (foot surgery), Sebastian Polter (cruciate ligament injury), Jere Uronen (adductor problems) and Sepp van den Berg (ankle problems).

Moritz Jenz or Thomas Ouwejan, however, are on the verge of a comeback, so S04 coach Thomas Reis stressed: “Almost every stricken player can make it at the moment. It looks very good. I hope I can then make a decision on who will be in the squad at all. “

Personally, then, things have looked worse, and the Bayer game has also been ticked off and rehashed, as Reis reports: “We didn’t do a few things well against a great opponent. The opponent exhausted that. We analysed why they were able to give us three goals. The team was very self-critical. We know what we have to face now. The game was quickly put behind us. But of course you have to look at the things that weren’t optimal. “