This Saturday, March 21, 2026, the Merck-Stadion am Böllenfalltor will host not only the highlight of Matchday 27, but also what could be the most crucial game of the season, as the top two teams in the 2. Bundesliga face off in the SV Darmstadt 98 vs FC Schalke 04 match. We’ve, of course, prepared a prediction for this game, and we’ll share it with you now.
Darmstadt 98 vs Schalke 04: What to Expect
SV Darmstadt 98
Darmstadt is in the running for promotion; Florian Kohfeldt’s team is currently in second place, but every game could be a decisive one for each of the five teams still in the running for promotion.
Darmstadt could have been in first place, but the points dropped in matches against outsider teams are directly affecting the hosts’ situation ahead of the upcoming match.
The previous match wasn’t exactly a success either, as Darmstadt traveled to face 1. FC Magdeburg is the bottom team in the league. And if you look at the first half of the match, it’s hard even to say that Darmstadt was the favorite. Magdeburg capitalized on its advantage midway through the second half when Fabian Nurnberger scored an own goal. However, just a few minutes later, Nurnberger scored against the opponent, resulting in a 1:1 tie.
Currently, only three points separate second and fifth place in the 2. Bundesliga, making the outcome of the Darmstadt 98 vs Schalke 04 match extremely important; predictions for the end of the season may hinge directly on this result.
FC Schalke 04
Schalke is in a slightly better position than the other teams, but the way Gelsenkirchen has been dropping points could come back to haunt them at the end of the season.
To make a prediction for the SV Darmstadt 98 vs FC Schalke 04 match, you have to look back to early 2026, when Miron Muslic’s team squandered its first-half-of-the-season lead by failing to win any of its first four matches of the new year.
Schalke then began racking up points, helped by star player Edin Džeko, who scored six goals and made three assists in eight matches with his new team.
Džeko fulfilled his role as a striker in the previous match against Hannover 96, a direct rival in the race for promotion. Edin opened the scoring in the first half. But in the second half, Schalke played out its favorite script: first, Džeko received a red card in the 53rd minute with the score at 2:0, and then Gelsenkirchen conceded twice and, once again, let the victory slip away.
SV Darmstadt 98 vs FC Schalke 04: Head-to-Head Matches
Schalke won the first-leg match 1:0, but in between those two games, there was also a DFB-Pokal match in which the visitors suffered a crushing 4:0 defeat to Darmstadt, and this is a very important detail, as Schalke hasn’t won at the Merck-Stadion am Böllenfalltor since 2022.
| Darmstadt – Schalke H2H | |||
| 2025/26 DFB-Pokal | |||
| SV Darmstadt 98 | 4 | 0 | FC Schalke 04 |
| 2025/26 Season | |||
| FC Schalke 04 | 1 | 0 | SV Darmstadt 98 |
| 2023/24 Season | |||
| SV Darmstadt 98 | 2 | 0 | FC Schalke 04 |
| FC Schalke 04 | 3 | 5 | SV Darmstadt 98 |
Darmstadt vs Schalke Match Prediction
Schalke heads to Darmstadt with high hopes but without its top scorer, as Edin Džeko will miss the game after receiving a red card. The home team, on the other hand, enters this game with a fully fit squad and a chance to move into first place in the league.
Darmstadt vs Schalke Prediction: Hosts Total Goals Over 1.5.
| The Match Predictions | ||
| 1st Team Total Over 1.5 (~odds at 2.2) | ||
