The tenth round of the German championship kicks off on Friday with Schalke v Hoffenheim. Another Bundesliga game day caught the opponents at a bad time of the season, with both teams showing far from their best results. Schalke's poor performance has pushed the Gelsenkirchen club into the relegation zone, while in the case of Hoffenheim, the hosts have been relegated from the Eurocup zone. At the end of the season, bookmakers' betting odds put Hoffenheim in ninth place and Schalke in seventeenth, for which a direct relegation to the Second Bundesliga is envisaged. Directly in the upcoming encounter, the visitors are favorites with odds of around 2.0 to win.

Last season, the club from Gelsenkirchen won the second division in Germany and, given their historical tradition, hoped to gain a foothold in the elite of German football. Nevertheless, since the beginning of the league season, the same problem, which caused Schalke's disastrous exit from the Bundesliga the season before last, has been affecting the team. It's about the defensive line, which has conceded 21 goals in nine games. The only win in the league came in the first decade of September when they beat the equally fragile Bochum on home soil. In the last three rounds, Schalke failed to pick up a single point, conceding a total of eight goals and losing to Augsburg.

On the day of Schalke's only win in the Bundesliga, Hoffenheim also picked up their last three points to date. The team made a great impression back then, leaving no chance at home to Mainz (4-1). The next three games brought the Villers just two points, and the last round ended with a surprise defeat at home to Werder. This season's statistics show that, after each defeat, Hoffenheim have consistently drawn conclusions and won their next games.

Over the last three years, the opponents have played five games against each other, with Hoffenheim winning three times, Schalke winning once and the opponents drawing level in one more meeting. Despite the home-field factor, Hoffenheim are objectively stronger than Schalke, which makes it safe to bet on the visitors with handicaps (0).