Schalke 04 must avoid defeat away to RB Leipzig on Saturday if they are to have any chance of avoiding relegation from the Bundesliga.

The hosts, meanwhile, guaranteed Champions League qualification by blowing the title race wide open with a victory against Bayern Munich last weekend.

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Indeed, former Borussia Dortmund boss Marco Rose may never have to buy a pint again within the vicinity of his old stomping ground, after Leipzig's 3-1 win at the Allianz Arena allowed BVB to move back to the top of the table heading into the final day of the Bundesliga season.

Die Roten Bullen had trailed 1-0 at half time after Serge Gnabry fired the Bavarians into the lead after only 25 minutes, but Konrad Laimer levelled the proceedings four minutes after the hour mark, before Christopher Nkunku and Dominik Szoboszlai both converted penalties late on to snatch a surprise win.

Leipzig's momentous victory means that they can prepare for their final league match against Schalke with minimal pressure on their shoulders, as it moved them four points clear of Union Berlin and Freiburg, thus ensuring they will compete in Europe's primary competition for the fifth consecutive campaign.

Moreover, as they aim to lift the DFB-Pokal for the second successive season when they take on Eintracht Frankfurt next weekend, Rose may contemplate making changes en masse in order to avoid any unnecessary injuries.

As such, although on paper facing Leipzig away from home is one of the hardest tests that any team can have in the Bundesliga, Schalke may be facing them at the best possible moment in the season.

The same arguably applied to their home match against Frankfurt last weekend, though, given that Oliver Glasner's side had failed to win any of their previous 10 away games in the league, and had clearly mentally checked out of the Bundesliga campaign ahead of the cup final at the beginning of June.

Simon Terodde got the hosts off to the perfect start by breaking the deadlock inside the opening minute, but goals from Daichi Kamada and Tuta either side of the break left Schalke staring down the barrel at a disastrous defeat. However, Sebastian Polter rescued a point for Thomas Reis's side with five minutes to spare, which means they do not absolutely have to beat Leipzig in order to have any chance of survival.

That is because their goal difference is superior to VfL Bochum's, who head into the final match against Bayer Leverkusen one point clear of Schalke. Stuttgart are level on points with Bochum ahead of hosting Hoffenheim, but possess a significantly better goal difference than both sides.

Essentially, a draw would only move Schalke outside of the automatic relegation positions and into the relegation playoff spot if Bochum are defeated by Leverkusen. In order to move out of the bottom three positions and survive altogether, Schalke must win and hope that neither Stuttgart or Bochum do, which appears to be a tall order with the fixtures that the three sides are set to play.

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As mentioned, Rose has plenty to ponder ahead of facing Frankfurt in the DFB-Pokal final next Saturday, with the 46-year-old needing to determine whether his players require positive momentum or rest in order to give themselves the best chance of lifting Germany's domestic cup once again.

Christopher Nkunku and Dani Olmo may fall into the latter camp given their persistent injury problems throughout this campaign, but otherwise Rose is likely to uphold the integrity of the division and field a strong starting XI.

First-choice goalkeeper Peter Gulasci remains sidelined with a serious knee injury and will miss out on appearing at the Olympiastadion in Berlin next weekend.

Schalke, meanwhile, will have to upset the odds without the services of Moritz Jenz and Terodde, who both received costly cautions leading to one-match suspensions against Frankfurt last time out.

Polter will almost certainly lead the line after bagging a crucial goal from the bench, while Marcin Kaminski may slot into the visitors' defence.

Jere Uronen, Ralf Fahrmann, Soichiro Kozuki and Justin Heekeren all remain sidelined through injury, further depleting Reis's options in a match that his team cannot afford to lose if they are to remain in the division.

RB Leipzig possible starting lineup:
Blaswich; Henrichs, Orban, Gvardiol, Halstenberg; Laimer, Haidara; Szoboszlai, Forsberg; Werner, Silva

Schalke 04 possible starting lineup:
Schwolow; Brunner, Van Den Berg, Kaminski, Matriciani; Kral, Krauss; Karaman, Zalazar, Bulter; Polter

We say: RB Leipzig 3-1 Schalke 04

Although Leipzig are guaranteed to finish third regardless of their result against Schalke, Rose will still want his players to end their league campaign on a high ahead of taking on Frankfurt in the DFB-Pokal final next weekend.

Schalke have done well to stay alive heading into the final day of the season given their disastrous form earlier in the campaign, but we expect an instant return to the second tier to be confirmed with a defeat this weekend.

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