Schalke 04 – Hanover 96

The visitors are quite capable of taking at least a point from Gelsenkirchen.

The situation in the 2. Bundesliga ahead of the start of the 26th round has somewhat eased. Let us recall that the gap between the first and fifth teams before the previous matchday was only two points, which heightened the intrigue in the race for promotion to the maximum extent. After the previous round, the upper part of the table has widened somewhat. And the reason for this was the participants of the central match of the upcoming matchday, planned in Gelsenkirchen. While Schalke, Darmstadt 98 and Elversberg secured important victories, Hannover, on their home ground, fell to the last-placed team in the division — Greuther Fürth. The upcoming away match for the Reds cannot be described in any other way than a moment of truth. If they lose to Schalke, they will fall eight points behind first place and, it is possible, will increase the gap to the top-3 zone by more than one win. In the first leg Schalke and Hannover completed the active phase of their confrontation as early as the fifteenth minute, when Musa Silla's goals made the score 2:0 in favor of the royal blues. In the end, Schalke brought back a 3:0 victory from Hannover. Bookmakers have named the home team the favorites for the upcoming match, offering odds of 2.32 on their victory. Schalke has been playing with Edin Dzeko at the spearhead of the attack for the last two months. A couple of days after the match with Hannover, the Bosnian forward will celebrate his 40th birthday. In seven appearances for Schalke, Dzeko has scored five goals and provided three assists. Thus the veteran has participated in more than half of his team's goals since January 25, 2026. However, even more importantly is the fact that Schalke has effectively rebuilt the attack around Dzeko, which not only boosts his personal tally but also reliably helps the royal blues win. A painful defeat to Greuther Fürth last round is unlikely to knock the visitors off their rhythm. In the six rounds before this disappointment, Hannover had won five times and once drawn with Dynamo Dresden. Greuther Fürth could also have avoided a defeat, if Leopold had converted a penalty in the middle of the second half. The Reds are no worse than Schalke at this period of the season and are quite capable of taking at least a point from Gelsenkirchen.