Miron Muslic: Take the whole stadium with us from the first kick of the ball

Schalke have managed to secure victory in seven of the eight games played at home so far this campaign. The only team to pick up more points in front of their own crowd are this week’s visitors, with the Red Devils having secured 22 points at home this year, one more than Schalke’s tally at the VELTINS-Arena. That being said, FCK have played two more games than the Knappen this season. Their form on the road has been more patchy, with head coach Torsten Lieberknecht’s team securing just eight points away from home so far in 2025/26. Nevertheless, Kaiserslautern have been there or thereabouts at the upper end of the 2. Bundesliga table for weeks now, with just four points separating them from second place and direct qualification to the top flight.

FCK start the year well with a win over Hannover 96

“Our opponents look different away from home than when they’re at their own ground,” said Schalke’s head coach, who still maintains a huge amount of respect for the quality that Kaiserslautern play with, evidenced recently with the team being the only one in the top seven to win their first game of 2026. FCK were able to celebrate a 3-1 win to kick off the second half of the season, coming back from a 1-0 deficit at half time to wrap up all three points at the Fritz-Walter-Stadion. “We’re going to need a top performance if we want to be successful against Kaiserslautern,” emphasised Schalke’s head coach.

In preparation for the affair, Muslic has also gone back and rewatched the reverse fixture, in which S04 were edged out 1-0 in a tight game decided by Marlon Ritter’s second-half penalty. “FCK are a team with incredibly strong willpower. We’ve seen what they can do and we’re well prepared,” said the 43-year-old.

The penultimate training session before Sunday’s match took place on Friday (23/1), with over 1,200 Schalke fans in attendance and many thousands more watching from home via FC Schalke 04’s YouTube channel, all of whom were hoping to get a glimpse at new signing Edin Džeko’s first movements in Schalke colours. The centre-forward, who signed for the Royal Blues just the day before, is currently the number one talking point around the club and will be part of the squad for Sunday’s game.

“When you hear his name, you immediately think of goals, good work in the box, his physical presence. Edin has been one of football’s best target men for 20 years now. A champion in Germany, in England and in Italy,” said Muslic, thrilled with his new number 10, who even with all his success has “his heart in the right place and both feet planted firmly on the ground. That was clear from Edin’s first day here. He fits in wonderfully here. We’re proud of the fact that he chose to come to Schalke. He had options that were much more financially lucrative and offered him the chance to play at a higher level, but Edin decided to go with his heart.” Muslic was simultaneously keen to stress that “on Sunday, it’s not Edin Džeko against Kaiserslautern – it’s FC Schalke 04 against Kaiserslautern. We’ll need everyone, including Edin.”

Question mark over Vitalie Becker

The head coach is yet to decide on his exact starting line-up for the game, not least due to the question mark surrounding who will start at left wing-back. “Vitalie Becker was very lucky in Berlin, in that he didn’t suffer any structural damage,” explained Muslic. “This week, though, he hasn’t been involved in team training once and has been working individually instead.” Anton Donkor would be the like-for-like replacement, although is also not fully fit after his injury, according to the head coach.

Despite the uncertainty, Muslic was as ever refusing to complain, rather explaining how the team had a number of options in the case of both players missing the game on Sunday. Dylan Leonard, who has been eligible to play for just a few weeks, is unfortunately not among them. The Australian defender suffered an ankle injury in Thursday’s training session (22/1), undergoing surgery that same evening. The 18-year-old is now set to be out of action for several months. “Dylan was on a really good track, and so it’s really bad news for us and unbelievably disappointing for the lad. We’ll support him on his road to recovery as best as we possibly can.”