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FC Schalke 04 vs. Manchester City FC
Date: November 27th 2008
K.O: 18:00GMT
Venue: Veltins Arena, Gelsenkirchen

Match Background
Schalke 04 are set to welcome the Blues to Gelsenkirchen in this UEFA Cup Group A match, which would make qualification for the last 32 almost certain for the winners.

City beat Steve “Van” McLaren’s FC Twente 3-2 at Eastlands in their first group match earlier in the month, whilst Schalke have four points after beating PSG 3-1, and sharing the spoils in a one all draw with Racing in Santander. Schalke will also be looking to settle an old score, having been on the end of a 5-2 aggregate defeat at the feet of a Colin Bell inspired City side back in 1969/70. A brace from Neil Young and strikes from Bell, Lee and Doyle meant the Blues reached the final of the European Cup Winners Cup. City went on to lift the Cup after beating Gornik Zabrze, and Leslie Mark Hughes and his team will be hoping to emulate Joe Mercer’s boys in both instances.

Form
City: LLLDW
City go into the game having ended their poor run of results with a resounding 3-0 defeat of Arsenal. The result went some way towards dispelling the growing unease amongst the supporters that all was not well in the City camp. City now lie 11th in the premiership table, and will be looking for some European success to set the scene nicely for Sunday’s Manchester derby. A win at Schalke will leave the Blues on 6 points in Group A, and this total has only been insufficient for qualification once in the competitions history.

Schalke: WWLLW
The Gelsenkirchen side have been fairly inconsistent so far this season, suffering two defeats recently before returning to form with a 3-1 defeat of Borussia Monchengladbach. Schalke currently occupy 7th place in the Bundesliga, and are well placed to mount an assault on the European league places if they can be a little more consistent, which will probably sound quite familiar to the City faithful. Top of Group A with 4 points, victory in this fixture would guarantee the Royal Blues a place in the first knockout round of the competition.

Match Odds: Schalke 13/15, City 5/2, and draw 12/5

Team News

City
City have been hit hard by injuries in the run up to this fixture, with Swiss mindfielder Gelson and right back Pablo Zabaleta missing the trip to Germany, whilst Elano has stayed at home to be with his wife and newborn child. However the major news is that the sublime Robinho will also miss out, due to the ankle injury picked up in the Arsenal game. The Brazilian’s absence will be a big blow to the city side, and makes a tough task look that bit tougher. Better news for City is that keeper Joe Hart and Brazilian striker Jo have both been passed fit for the game after recovering from their respective injuries.

Schalke:
Schalke will probably not be making too many changes to the side that beat Borussia Monchengladbach 3-1 on Saturday. Kevin Kuranyi, Halil Altintrop and Jefferson Farfan should make up a three pronged attack that is full of experience and goal scoring threat.
The only injury concern for ex-FC Twente boss Fred Rutten is midfielder Albert Strait, whilst Brazilian defender Rafinha returns to the squad after suspension.

Key Players

City
Stephen Ireland has been a revelation this season with 7 goals and a host of eye-catching performances to his name. With the attacking threat of Robinho absent from the side, the onus will be on the Irish midfielder to provide the creative impetus and drive from the centre of the park that City’s attacking verve depends on.

The Blues’ defence has been somewhat shaky of late, but both centre-backs produced excellent displays against Arsenal at the weekend. City will be hoping that Richard Dunne and Micah Richards serve up more of the same against a tricky Schalke forward line.

Schalke
Kevin Kuranyi has been in sketchy form so far this season, culminating in two woeful open-goal misses ant the VELTINS-Arena on Saturday. However, the striker has still managed to score 6 goals from 14 appearances so far this season and will be looking to put his weekend mistakes behind him by leading the line against City on Thursday evening.

Also joining Schalke from FC Twente in the summer was the Dutch international Orlando Engelaar. Standing well over 6 feet tall, Engelaar is a towering and commanding presence in midfield and also one of the tallest players in the German Bundesliga. City will have to prevent the huge Dutchman from controlling the midfield, as his size belies his passing skill and footballing intelligence.

Prediction: Schalke 2 – 2 City
These teams are quite well matched in terms of attacking threat but will have to be careful about leaving themselves open to the pace of each other’s forwards on the break. An open game is expected, and if City can build on the solid defensive display against Arsenal there is a good chance of coming away from Gelsenkirchen with at least a share of the points.

City v Arsenal
Venue: Eastlands
Date: 22 November 2008

Odds: Man City 9/4 Draw 12/5 Arsenal 6/5

Match news

City have a healthy squad to select from this week after the blues players came through the midweek internationals relatively unscathed. Richard Dunne and Gelson Fernandes are available again after serving their 1 match suspension for the debacle against Tottenham. Arsenal, however, are in the middle of an injury crisis and a much publicised dressing room split. Let’s hope City can capitalise on their misfortunes for once.

Form Guide

Both teams are not on top form and only have 2 wins each from their last 6 games

City – WLLWLD (stoke, boro, Bolton, FC twente, spurs, hull)
Arsenal – DLDWWL (spurs, stoke, fenerbahce, rags, wigan, villa)

Head to Head

We don’t have much success against arsenal as they are one of those teams that, when you get the fixtures, the most positive tinkers go for a draw. Quite right too when you see our home form guide against Arsenal since the turn of the century.

At Eastlands
2007/2008 City 1 – 3 Arsenal (Lost)
2006/2007 City 1 – 0 Arsenal (Won)
2005/2006 City 1 – 3 Arsenal (Lost)
2004/2005 City 1 – 2 Arsenal (league cup) (Lost)
2004/2005 City 0 – 1 Arsenal (Lost)
2003/2004 City 1 – 2 Arsenal (Lost)
2002/2003 City 1 – 5 Arsenal (Lost)
2000/2001 City 0 – 4 Arsenal (Lost)

Stat Attack

MANCHESTER CITY
12th 14 points
Highest achievable after Saturday’s matches: 10th
Lowest could fall: 15th
1. Picked up one point from a last possible 12.
2. Gained one win in eight Premier League matches; 3-0, home to Stoke on 26 October.
3. On their lowest points return for four years; had 12 more points at this same stage last season when a top three club.
4. Boast the longest Premier League goalscorers list in the country.
5. Alternated between win and loss in their last 10 home league games; must take maximum points here for that pattern to continue.
6. Lost the last four against ‘Big Four’ clubs and all four home fixtures against them in 2008. Won just one of nine against the quartet of Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United; that victory being 1-2 away, against United on 10 February 2008.
7. Lost four of their last five Premier League matches against London clubs; the exception being a 3-0 home victory over West Ham on 24 August.
8. Arsenal were one of four clubs to leave the City of Manchester Stadium with maximum points last season.

ARSENAL
4th 23 points
Highest achievable after Saturday’s matches: 3rd
Lowest could fall: 6th
1. Recorded just one win in four Premier League games.
2. Already lost four league games this season to Fulham (a), Hull (h), Stoke (a) and Aston Villa (a).
3. The loss to Stoke in their most recent league game on the road followed a return of 10 points out of a possible 12 away from the Emirates.
4. Down by some 10 points on last season at this same stage when top of the table.
5. The first top-flight club to score 50 goals in all competitions in this campaign.
6. Won all five league games in which ahead at half-time.
7. Won all four this season against North-West clubs; Blackburn, Bolton, Everton and Manchester United.
8. Manchester City were one of 10 clubs they beat on their Premier League travels last term.

Blues News

City are in the market for a temporary solution for our goalkeeping problem with Joe Hart reportedly out for a month, therefore, we have Kasper in goal for the foreseeable future. I fully expect Kasper to take this opportunity and make it very hard for Hart to claim his place back in the team. The last time Kasper faced Arsenal he played a MOTM performance which saw City narrowly beaten at the Emirates, with Kasper producing several fine saves including a great penalty stop.

I expect City to bring Dunne back into the centre of defence to partner Richards again. The constant changing of the back four personnel must be having an impact on the team, it would be nice to see a period of solidity at the back, starting with today please lads.

City’s attacking flair is the only reason we are not in the bottom 3 and Leslie will continue to embrace the style of play being produced by the Blues midfield and attackers. However, it would be nice to see a central striker come into some form and cement their place in the team. I expect the striker to be one from Jo or Benjani today, but as we have all been bemused b y some decisions of late, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Vassell on his own up front. Hopefully Leslie will see sense and replace Vassell on the wing with SWP and, bring Elano into the centre.

But with common sense not being one of Leslies strong points (as there are no stats that come with common sense), the Probable Team will be:

16. Kasper
5. Zabaleta
2. Richards (making his 100th appearance in a city shirt)
22. Dunne
15. Garrido
12. Vassell
8. SWP
33. Kompany
7. Ireland
10. Robinho
27. Benjani

Opposition Position

Arsenal are having their dressing room ripped apart at the moment, mainly by their sulky EX-captain William Gallas. It seems that he is not being shown the respect that he demands and has decided to throw his gallic dummy our of his pram. Press reports state he has not travelled with the team for today’s game, which can only be a good thing for City.

Arsenal have many players unavailable at the moment, so let’s hope city can capitalise:

Fabregas – Suspended
Walcott – Injured
Toure – Injured
Sagna – Injured
Eboue – Injured
Rosicky – Injured
De Silva – Injured
Gallas – Injured Pride

The main problem for City will be that Wenger has an abundance of young talent to call upon, so expect to see some of his young guns shine today. Possible call ups for Ramsey, Vela, Wilshire and Bischoff. Whatever happens today, you know that Wenger will have an excuse with injuries or youthful inexperience etc…. Or there will be a serious incident that he did not see!

City Slicker

Although I was really tempted to say Stephen Superman Ireland, I have got to say Robinho, this mercurial genius has been a shining beacon in what can only be described as a painfully inconsistent start to the 2008/2009 league season. Fingers crossed that Robinho will edge closer to his 30 goals target today.

Gunner Stunner

Adebayor played excellent at Eastlands last season and I expect the same again today. Lets hope Dunne and Richards get to grip with him early on.

Ref Watch

Referee: Alan Wiley
Prem Matches: 9
Red cards: 1
Yellow Cards: 24

Last refereed City in the 6-0 thrashing of Portsmouth earlier this season

Prediction

City 2 – 1 Arsenal
We will never have a better opportunity to put one over them, COME ON CITY.

This preview was brought to you by Wonderwall from www.mancityfans.net

FC Schalke 04 – Manchester City

The essentials of Düsseldorf….

Where to drink?
Altstadt is the place to be for City fans. Located near the river Rhine, you’ll find many good bars, ale houses and small house breweries. The tipple of choice served in this area is called Alt, which is similar to bitter. The glasses are small are small however, 0,25l.

3 pubs recommended for the beer tourists are:
1. The Uerige www.uerige.de/ the best Beer in town
2. Schlüssel www.hausbrauerei-zum-schluessel.de/
3. Im Füchschen www.fuechschen.de/

The lager in Germany is called Pils, but also worth a try is the Bavarian Weizen beer. Cologne has it’s own beer, the Kölsch which is pretty potent stuff.Across the main station (Hauptbahnhof) there is a corner pub, which is ugly and dirty but good for a beer and handy for City fans who just want a pint before making their way up to Gelsenkirchen .

The best area for eating is the Altstadt, where there are many good restaurants for all kinds of food. If you are into Spanish food, a place called the Spanische Gasse is the best in the areas, and there are also 8-10 different restaurants and tapas bars around here.

Travelling
If you’ve got a match ticket, travelling is free on match day in the VRR-trains(not in IC/ICE). Information on this can be found here www.vrr.de/de/index.html. The trains depart every 10-20 min or so to Gelsenkirchen.

Taxi’s are more expensive than in the UK. If you need a taxi for a longer ride, ask for a “Festpreis”, a fixed price where the driver can’t add anything on during the journey.

Gelsenkirchen/Schalke
The town where the FC Schalke 04 reside is called Gelsenkirchen, an old coal miners town, Not one of the nicest towns in Germany, but it is ok. It is located in the middle of the Ruhrgebiet and has a population of 270k. There’s not much to see apart from the football and some older industrial museums like an old coal mine (Zeche Nordstern), now a park area.FC Schalke 04 is formerly Germany’s most successful team in terms of titles won until FC Bayern Munich took over. But most of their titles were won decades ago. The club colours are blue and white. If you are interested in the history of the club: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FC_Schalke_04

Schalke have not been big investors in the transfer market for a couple of years. There was a time where they bought everybody from other teams to weaken their rivals. Nowadays they have a decent keeper, good defence, a very good set piece routines but not much else.

The Fans
Schalke was known for it’s huge hooligan element in the late 80’s early 90’s, the firm was/ is called Gelsenszene. There are still elements of hooliganism here and but they are on a much smaller scale than 20 years ago. The Schalke-Ultras have their place in the north stand in the ground with the younger fans who are more into the singsongs and things like that, Italian style support. Its doubtful there will be much trouble on matchday.

Schalke have close relations with the fans from FC Nuremberg, so you may see some red and black colours around the area on matchday. Fans they don’t really care for, come from Dortmund, Essen and Cologne.

Getting to the Stadium
When you arrive in town by train, you’ll have to take the tram nr. 302 from the station to the ground. The ground is about 4-5km away, so a taxi will cost around 15-20€, but it won’t be any faster. By foot it is a hell of a walk, so take the tram, which is also included into your travel ticket. Get off at the station Veltins Arena or Parkstadion, then follow the masses for a 5-10 min walk to the ground.

Drinking
Drinking is allowed outside the pubs and bars on the street. There are a few pubs around the station, but most of them are home fans only. A no-go area is the Anno 1904 near the old Glückaufkampfbahn. I’m not an expert on pubs in Gelsenkirchen town, but if you find a good one stick around.

Smoking is allowed in small pubs, where they don’t serve any food. Bigger pubs and some restaurants have separate smoking areas, the smaller ones have a big blue sign at the door stating you can smoke there. Outside or in the ground smoking is not restricted.

Police
The plod are normally quite cool, if there is no reason for them to get stuck in. So, if you are a normal everyday fan and not in for the big fight, there should be no problem. German police have big experience to handle such football events. I personally expect no problems, especially if the City faithful handle it like a big family tour.You will also see the riot police is in town, but they are only there just in case anything happens……

The ground
www.arena-auf-schalke.de/
The now called Veltins arena is a huge modern dome with a closable roof. More a hall/dome than an ground, but huge and impressive. Built in 2001 the ground hold around 62,000 spectators. For UEFA-cup games that is reduced to around 54,000 places, only seating. Good views from every place, the Ultras are in the North stand, however, the away section is in the corner of the Erdgas Stand, Block V+W and I expect Block 60-66 to also be City friendly. The away section is a separate part of the ground with plexiglass around it, you can’t pass from there to other parts of the ground.

Beers and refreshments are only available with a so called Knappencard, a plastic card which you have to buy in advance. You’ll get your unused money back after the game, but there is only one shop in the away section where you could do that….. Beer is alcohol free at UEFA-cup games, so there is served something which looks like beer, but isn’t…..

Schalke has two former grounds, the very Old Glückauf Kampfbahn and their last ground, the Parkstadion. It’s still possible to see parts of both grounds. The Glückaufkampfbahn is still in use for their second team. Both grounds are located in the Veltins Arena-Area and worth a look at, if you are a stadium enthusiast.

Getting away….
After the game you have to get back to the main station via a tram or bus. There are trains back to Düsseldorf every 30 mins until late into the night, so this should be no problem. The only problem is, the Altstadt in Düsseldorf closes at midnight, so only bars and hotels would serve you a drink….I expect the police to let you stay in the stands for 20-30 min or so and then back to the station in a convoy with the tram or bus, they normally do this their.

In Bundesliga, Schalke security and/or police have a reputation for what can be said as “unfriendly behaviour” in the past, but let’s see what happens here.

Enjoy the game and a safe journey to all of the travelling blues.

This travel guide was written by www.mancityfans.net poster TomS, many thanks for this excellent guide Tom. If you would like to discuss this and many other city topics then please visit our forum.

KC Stadium, 4PM GMT

First Goalscorer Odds: Robinho 11/2 Geovanni 13/2

A downtrodden City side arrive for their first-ever visit to KC Stadium on Sunday afternoon looking to shake their poor away form in this campaign with a rare away win against Premiership new darlings Hull City. The Tigers arrived with a splash on the Prem scene with a remarkable run of form in their first ever season in England’s top division in their 100 year history. Hull City amassed 20 points through their first 10 league matches and are currently 6th in the league table — a slot many would have imagined for City given their talent level. City sit 13th in a crowded bottom half of the table which sees them just 2 points above the bottom of the table.

Form

Manchester City        L-D-W-L-L-L     4 PTS
Hull City                   W-W-W-L-L-L   9 PTS

Each side has lost their last 3 Premiership matches and will look to get untracked and back in winning form as the busy holiday fixture season nears. A win for City is critical as their next two matches against Man United and Arsenal will prove difficult, and to drop 6 league matches in a row could ruin any chance to remain connected to the top 6 and push for a finish which would allow City to play in Europe next season.

Hull are certainly still basking in the glory of their early season run of form, but Phil Brown will know that 20 points is only halfway to safety, and a poor run of form between now and Christmas could see Hull easily in the bottom half of the table by end of the year. This will be the first match between Manchester City and Hull in the top division, with their last matchups seeing them split the fixtures at home in the old 2nd division in 1988-89. Hull’s most famous victory over City came in the 1930 FA Cup with a 2-1 victory.

“Sparky, Sparky Give Us A Wave”

City come into the match with their fair share of controversy over manager Mark Hughes’ team selection and January transfer target lists. While Hughes has the verbal backing of the Abu Dhabi owner Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahya — Hughes held positive mid-week meetings in the Middle East with the new ownership group, where they discussed transfer targets and reviewed where the club is heading — a portion of City fans aren’t so convinced that Hughes’ strategy, tactics or transfer target lists will be up to the task of turning 30 years of City doldrums into a side competing for silverware in the near future.

Internally, Hughes is also facing pressure from the likes of star midfielder Elano, who publicly vented to the press this week about his lack of time on the pitch, to which the manager publicly admonished him for going to the press and reminded him that he’s seen more of the pitch than many others this season, and that he should focus on his game and bring his issues to his gaffer first and not the media. This kind of internal struggle doesn’t bode well for Hughes or Elano in the eyes of many City fans, some of whom wrongly believe Hughes will be sacked if he loses against Hull this weekend. Hughes seems in good sorts with the new owner and his new chairman, who’ve bought into the notion that Hughes is one of the top young managers in England — a manager who will take the team in high-flying directions. Only time will tell, and while City’s new owners seem to have patience, many City fans lack that same fortitude.

Previous Game

City 1 – 2 Tottenham Hotspur

City were on the front foot at home against a resurgent Tottenham side last weekend, only to find themselves turned over by poor defending via Richard Dunne and errant, reckless tackling with two yellow cards in short order from midfielder Gelson Fernandes. Once again, Mark Hughes was left with complaints of poor officiating as a chief cause of City’s poor result, and while there is merit to his claim on a superficial level, all of City’s red cards this season seem warranted upon review by discriminating football fans. The upside is that City had a very bright start against Tottenham, and with a bit of restraint from Gelson Fernandes looked capable of leaving the match with 3 points.

Hull 0 – 1 Bolton Wanderers

Hull were vanquished single-handedly by Bolton keeper Jussi Jaaskelainen in last weekend’s fixture, with the keeper making several game-changing stops as Hull outshot a moribund Bolton side 11-6 but not finding the net due to his resilience. Phil Brown can be excited that his team continue to take their chances and push their luck, because that fearlessness is what has driven them up to this point in the campaign, and a change in tactics would be unlikely to produce similar results.

Injuries

Defender Andy Dawson will be missing in action for Hull as will Striker Craig Fagan, while City will miss the services of young striker Daniel Sturridge who is out with an ankle injury. City will also miss the dubious-as-of-late services of Defender and Captain Richard Dunne, and Swiss Midfielder Gelson Fernandes, both due to suspension after their horrorshow red-card performances in City’s loss v. Tottenham last weekend.

Key Men


Vincent Kompany — Back from a minor injury, Kompany has been the glue between midfield and attack along with Steven Ireland. Despite Kompany’s seemingly strong performances in midfield, City’s back four has been porous this campaign. Will Kompany be deployed at CB or remain in Midfield on Sunday is anyone’s guess given Mark Hughes’ team selection record this season, but in whatever his position on the pitch Kompany’s success will be key to how City handle a disciplined and attacking Tigers side who have a great goal record so far, and will not shy away from taking the game to City.

Robinho – Robinho’s away form has been tepid at best, and often is simply a result of inactivity around him in the final 1/3rd of the pitch. Can Ireland, and the rest of the midfield team unlock Hull and provide the space Robinho needs to operate or will City’s midfield struggle to find the space they need to create the offensive firepower of which they are capable? Robinho’s presence, and patience will determine the answer to that question.

Geovanni — Billed as a training ground slacker while at Manchester City last season, Geovanni has found the spotlight to his liking at a smaller side in Hull who could frankly care less if he leaves it all on the training pitch if he can bang in the goals to keep the Tigers in the top division. Geo’s a minor cult figure with City fans for his goal performances taken with limited chances last season at City, specifically against United in a rare 1-0 derby win last season which then spawned the first City double over their local rivals in decades. Geo should find City’s defense to his liking, and all parties expect him on the scoresheet in what would be a ‘Typical City’ turn of events.

Prediction

Hull City 2 – 2 Manchester City

Both clubs should feature in an attacking up and down match that could be a cracker for a neutral fan. City’s continued porous defense will likely let them down again as the club struggles to find the balance between their attacking nerve, and their need to clampdown and close out a game. Expect City to open the scoresheet with a bright start, then hand the home side two goals — only to leave it late with an equaliser to cap off what hopes to be an attacking match among two teams who like to score.

Manchester City Potential Team Selection: Hart, Zabaleta, Richards, Ben Haim, Garrido, Kompany, SWP, Elano, Ireland, Robinho, Benjani
Hull City Potential Team Selection: Myhill, McShane, Turner, Zayatte, Ricketts, Marney, Ashbee, Boateng, Geovanni, Cousin, King

Many thanks to DoomMerchant of ManCityFans.Net for writing this preview