Breaking Bets: Can Di Matteo turn Schalke’s fortunes around?
Published:Roberto Di Matteo is back in football following an absence of nearly two years after being appointed manager of German club Schalke.
The Italian guided Chelsea to a first Champions League trophy back in 2012 and the FA Cup after taking over from Andres Villas-Boas’ troubled reign but was sacked just six months later by the Blues’ billionaire owner Roman Abramovich.
The former Chelsea player has been out of a job ever since but returns to take over an underperforming Schalke side from Jens Keller.
Die Königsblauen lie 11th in the Bundesliga after an inconsistent start to the season which has seen them pick up just eight points from seven matches, including just two wins.
The German side have also failed to pick up a victory in the Champions League but have two draws to their name and sit in third position in Group G.
There’s no denying Di Matteo has a big job on his hands at the Veltins-Arena but the Schalke faithful will be hoping some of the former MK Dons and West Brom boss’ Champions League and FA Cup winning magic can rub off on the Gelsenkirchen-based side.
And with that in mind Schalke have been priced up at 2/1 to put their bad start to the campaign behind them under Di Matteo and finish in Germany’s top four for the fourth consecutive season.
The 44-year-old also has the chance to face his former side Chelsea nearly two years to the day when he was fired from the top job at Stamford Bridge.
Jose Mourinho’s men travel to Germany to face Schalke in the Champions League on the November 25 and Di Matteo will be desperate to get one over on his former employers.
But first he has to get a few wins on the board with his side 8/11 to beat Hertha Berlin when the Bundesliga gets back underway after the international break.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.
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