Magath has high hopes for rested Schalke on Wolfsburg return
Published:Felix Magath is looking forward to a return to his former home when taking his under-performing Schalke side into a crunch game with Wolfsburg.
Magath had a successful managerial spell at Wolfsburg before leaving for Schalke as he led the club to their only Bundesliga title in 2009.
His first return failed to end in glory last season as Schalke fell to a 2-1 defeat at the VfL Stadion, but he is hoping that a full week’s training will ensure his squad are primed and well rested ahead of this season’s return.
Magath told the club’s official website: “We’re going to Wolfsburg to bring points back to Gelsenkirchen. Wolfsburg have a good side with many strong individuals as I know only too well from my time there.
“However, we are strong enough to get a grip on our opponents and we want to play our own game.”
Schalke are 11/5 to beat Wolfsburg and much will depend on the performance of Klaas-Jan Huntelaar in attack, who has scored six goals in nine Bundesliga appearances this season.
A Bundesliga title already seems out of the question for last season’s Bundesliga runners up, as they currently sit fourth from bottom with just nine points from their 11 games.
Wolfsburg are 5/4 to beat Schalke in the Bundesliga betting odds and will be buoyed by the fact they did the double over the opposition during the last campaign.
Both of these games ended 2-1 in Wolfsburg’s favour and a repeat is priced at 7/1.
Wolfsburg have only been marginally better than Schalke this season and can be rightly considered to be another of the Bundesliga’s big underperformers.
Their clash with Schalke could turn into a battle of the strikers as Wolfsburg have the prolific Edin Dzeko in their ranks.
Dzeko has seven goals in the Bundesliga this season and has scored four times in as many games against Schalke.
Grafite has scored five goals in Wolfsburg’s home wins over Schalke in the last two Bundesliga seasons. See the full Wolfsburg vs Schalke match betting odds market.
