- 1 Dynamo Dresden vs Schalke 04: the Bundesliga’s lowest scorers travel with a depleted squad
- 2 Dynamo Dresden: 18 conceded in nine, but a habit of making games tight at home
- 3 Schalke 04: one goal in four league games and a list of absentees that keeps growing
- 4 Free Football Prediction: Dynamo Dresden vs Schalke 04
- 5 About our free predictions
- 6 No commitment from us
- 7 Information changes
- 8 Your responsibility
- 9 Responsible gambling
- 10 Legal age
- 11 About visuals
Dynamo Dresden vs Schalke 04: the Bundesliga’s lowest scorers travel with a depleted squad 
Schalke have scored four goals in seven Bundesliga games since promotion, the fewest in the division. Three of them came in one afternoon at Union Berlin in September.
That’s the side bookmakers make favourites for Wednesday’s DFB-Pokal second-round tie at the Rudolf-Harbig-Stadion. Kick-off is 17:00 UK time on Wednesday 28 October, with extra time and penalties if it’s level after 90 minutes.
Miron Muslić’s side are 16th with six points, one win, three draws and three defeats. Their last four league games have produced one goal: a 0-0 with Elversberg, a 2-1 defeat at Freiburg, a 1-0 home loss to Mainz and a 0-0 at Köln on Saturday.
That draw in Cologne came at a price. Robin Gosens and Soufiane El-Faouzi both went to hospital after colliding with each other, Gosens with two wounds to his forehead and El-Faouzi with a broken nose. Muslić said afterwards that he’d lost eight players in a few days and didn’t expect the situation to improve much by Wednesday.
Dresden aren’t flying either. Thomas Stamm’s side are 15th in the 2. Bundesliga with eight points from nine games, and they lost 3-0 at Holstein Kiel on Sunday, a week after beating Magdeburg 2-0 to end a five-game winless run.
The prices are Dresden 3.50, the draw 3.60 and Schalke 2.00. I think the market has Schalke too short, and the last league meeting between these clubs, a 2-2 in Gelsenkirchen in February, shows how close the gap can be.
Dynamo Dresden: 18 conceded in nine, but a habit of making games tight at home 
Dresden’s league record is two wins, two draws and five defeats, with 11 goals scored and 18 conceded. The 3-0 at Kiel was a bad night, and it came against a side that hadn’t won a league game all season before Sunday.
The win over Magdeburg on 18 October showed what they can do in front of their own crowd. Hauptmann scored a penalty after nine minutes and Straudi added a second five minutes into the second half, his first goal for the club, against a side now fifth in the table.
Before that, Dresden drew 1-1 at Osnabrück, lost 2-1 at home to Hertha and drew 2-2 at Braunschweig. They’ve conceded in most of their games, but they’ve also been scoring, and only the Kiel defeat ended without a goal for them in that run.
The first round was a stroll, a 6-0 win at Westfalia Rhynern. No new absences have been reported, and Stamm is expected to name the same side that started at Kiel, with Vermeij leading the line.
Dresden also have a Pokal memory of this fixture. In the first round in August 2014 they beat Schalke 2-1 at home, Eilers scoring from the spot and Teixeira adding the second after Matip had replied for the visitors.
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Schalke 04: one goal in four league games and a list of absentees that keeps growing 
Schalke’s season peaked early. They won 3-1 at Union Berlin on 11 September and haven’t won a league game since.
The defence has kept them in games, with seven goals conceded in seven league matches. The attack is the reason they’re 16th. With Hwang Hee-chan and Adamu up front, Schalke have failed to score in three of their last four league games.
The injury list makes it harder still. Wöber, Schallenberg, Karaman, Sylla, Ljubicic and Gantenbein all missed Saturday’s game, and Gosens and El-Faouzi are now doubts after their head injuries. Muslić hasn’t said which of them will be back on Wednesday.
The cup run so far didn’t inspire much confidence. Schalke needed extra time to win 5-2 at fourth-tier Hallescher FC in August, after Halle equalised for 2-2 in the 90th minute.
The recent head-to-head is close. Schalke won 1-0 in Dresden in August 2025, then drew 2-2 with them at home in February. A likely Schalke side has Karius in goal behind T. Becker, Katić, Kurucay and Dina Ebimbe, with Tanaka, V. Becker and Bachmann in midfield.
Probable lineup Dynamo Dresden: Grill, Sterner, Rapp, F. Müller, Straudi, Wagner, Raschl, Čović, Hauptmann, Bobzien, Vermeij (same XI as at Kiel)
Probable lineup Schalke 04: Karius; T. Becker, Katić, Kurucay, Dina Ebimbe; Tanaka, V. Becker, Bachmann; Aouchiche, Adamu, Hwang
Free Football Prediction: Dynamo Dresden vs Schalke 04
Our prediction: Draw after 90 minutes @ 3.60
I’m taking the draw. Schalke have three draws in seven league games and have scored one goal in their last four, and they’re travelling with at least six players missing and two more nursing head injuries. A team in that state rarely puts a second-division side away inside 90 minutes.
The risk is Dresden’s defence, which has let in 18 league goals and three at Kiel on Sunday. If Schalke score early, the draw goes. But their attack hasn’t scored more than once in a league game since September, and Dresden have beaten a top-five second-division side at home this month.
The last two league meetings finished 1-0 and 2-2, and the Pokal meeting in 2014 went to Dresden. At 3.60, the draw at the end of normal time is my pick.
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