Bottom side Hertha are now seven points clear at the bottom of the Bundesliga. Their journey gets no easier on Sunday when they travel to take on Schalke, who can rise to the top three with a win.
Despite being stunned by Borussia Mönchengladbach a week ago, Schalke can move at worst into third place with a victory on Sunday, and their loss snapped a string of seven Bundesliga matches without a defeat.
Hertha, meanwhile, have not won since opening day, but they are just a point away from advancing in the Europa League after Thursday's 1-0 victory at Latvian side Ventspils.
Schalke manager Felix Magath has no new injury concerns for the match, although Jermaine Jones, Levan Kenia, Vasilios Pliatsikas and Christian Pander continue to recover from injuries.
Hertha are without the suspended Arne Friedrich for the match, and Timo Ochs, Christopher Gäng, Marc Stein, Pal Dardai, Florian Kringe and Rasmus Bengtsson are set to miss out with injuries.
There are no indications that Hertha will be able to get points from this match. Expect Schalke to run riot from the opening whistle.
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