week 3 - match preview

Asamoah 'definitely in contention' to start against Werder

This weekend's top fixture takes place at the Veltins Arena on Friday evening when Schalke meet Werder Bremen (kick-off 2030 CET). Both teams go into the match full of confidence. "We won at Aachen despite being a man down. That should give the team a real boost", says head coach Mirko Slomka.

Despite team selection issues - Frank Rost, Soren Larsen and Dario Rodriguez are injured - Slomka is confident of landing a second win in three games this season. His optimism is based on two things: the first hour of the home clash with Eintracht Frankfurt and the second half against Alemannia Aachen.

For long periods of the Frankfurt match the team played the kind of football they had worked on with the coaching staff during pre-season, outwitting their opponents by releasing the ball quickly and playing at a high tempo with lots of movement. With the exception of Halil Altintop's goal the only problem was that they forgot to shoot. "If we can build on that performance and make better use of our goalscoring opportunities, we've got a good chance", believes Slomka.

In Aachen the team showed another positive quality. Instead of falling to pieces after Mladen Krstajic was sent off, the Royal Blues pulled together in the second half. They kept a tight ship at the back and scored a deserved winner through Dario Rodriguez's header. "In Aachen the lads showed that they really are a team", said a delighted Slomka.

The Schalke boss has a problem, though, albeit a fairly pleasant one. While striker Soren Larsen looks likely to miss out, Slomka has Germany forward Gerard Asamoah pushing for a place in the starting eleven. The 27-year old has recovered from the exertions of the World Cup and has worked hard on his fitness over the last few weeks. According to Slomka, Asamoah is "definitely in contention" for the starting line-up against Werder Bremen.

Unlike Asamoah, Miroslav Klose has hardly been given any rest at all by Bremen since the World Cup. Germany's footballer of the year featured in the League Cup and in Bremen's opening Bundesliga matches, a decision that could have a negative impact over the coming months. "Klose's on a high at the moment, which explains his good performances, but I doubt whether he'll be able to keep it up", says Slomka, who saw Asamoah's form change in a similar way last year. He began well after the Confederations Cup, recalls Slomka, but then ran out of steam come October. "We were keen to avoid that this year", he concluded.