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Terodde has excellent scoring record in second tier
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Lautern have lost 5 of last 7 league games
Schalke v Kaiserslautern
Saturday 05 August, 18:30
Live in Sky Sports App
There was a stitch-up in Sligo for us last night, as St. Patrick's scored two goals in the first 32 minutes, but the third goal we needed steadfastly refused to arrive. The hosts even missed a last-gasp penalty that would have done the trick.
Shaking our heads, we move on. Schalke are up against Kaiserslautern tonight in Bundesliga 2., and I think the Royal Blues can take maximum points in their first home match of the season.
Schalke battled hard until the final day of last term, but ultimately suffered their second relegation in the space of three seasons. Coach Thomas Reis managed to repair some of the damage caused by his predecessor Frank Kramer, but he just didn't quite have enough games to get over the finish line. Reis has stayed on, and although the Royal Blues kicked off the campaign with a bizarre 5-3 loss at Hamburg, they are still seen as one of the favourites for promotion.
As expected, there was a lot of churn in terms of player movements, but convincing second-tier specialist Simon Terodde to stay on was a big deal. The 35-year-old is a consistent goalscorer at this level, and has already found the net. 17-year-old Assan Ouedraogo also caught the eye last week, showing some real potential in midfield.
Kaiserslautern looked doomed a few seasons ago when they were in the third tier and suffering from huge financial problems. Things have improved since, as the club won promotion to the second tier and finished a creditable ninth last term. Coach Dirk Schuster is an experienced operator at this level, and once took Darmstadt from the third tier to the first in back-to-back seasons.
However, Lautern lost 2-1 at home to St. Pauli in their opener, and if you stretch back into last term, they have lost five of their last seven league games and haven't won since April. We could back Schalke to take the win at 1.845/6, but instead I'll back Terodde to score at a healthy 6/4. Simon Terodde to score in a second-tier match at home against limited opposition? That's a price I'd snap up every time.