There was no fluke about Basel’s triumph at Chelsea on match day one and I am expecting the Swiss champions to follow up on Tuesday.
Having fallen behind at Stamford Bridge to Oscar’s goal on the stroke of half-time, Basel responded magnificently after the break and fully deserved their success.
Marco Streller got the winner in west London, as he so often does for hsi club, and Basel should relish getting stuck into a Schalke 04 team that concede plenty of goals.
Group E now has a very open look to it and surely it is any two from three to qualify for the knockout stage.
Schalke themselves were 3-0 winners over Steaua Bucharest a fortnight ago but the Romanians were poor and this could be a pivotal clash in the hunt for a place in the last 16.
The Bundesliga side have struggled domestically this term and it is just two top flight wins in their opening seven matches.
Sixteen goals have been shipped already, seven in their last 180 minutes of action, and you’re never quite sure what you’ll get with Jens Keller’s side.
Galatasaray proved too good for Schalke over two legs in the Champions League last term, after the Germans had impressed when topping Arsenal’s group unbeaten, but they didn’t convince against PAOK in the preliminaries this time around and perhaps aren’t the force of old.
Basel, in contrast, go from strength to strength and currently sit top of the Swiss Super League.
Maccabi Tel Aviv and Ludogrets have already been beaten in qualifying for Europe’s premier club competition, Basel kept clean sheets in both home wins, and some big names have been sent packing at St. Jakob-Park in recent times.
Manchester United, Bayern Munich and Tottenham have all been dismissed in northern Switzerland in the last few seasons and the visit of Schalke will not faze the hosts who look set to be without star striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar once again through injury.
2pts Back Basel (vs. Schalke) @ 7/4 (Bet Victor)