Schalke's new Dutch coach Fred Rutten has seen his team start the 2008/09 season well, with four points in the Bundesliga from two games and a first leg win over Atletico Madrid in the Champions League 3rd round qualifying.

Whilst Schalke have started their season brightly, Atletico have to wait until Sunday to kick off their league campaign.

Atletico, who welcome back Argentinian striker Aguero back from winning a gold medal at the Olympics football tournament, have bought keeper Coupet and defenders Heitinga and Ujfalusi in the summer and look strong enough to mount some sort of league title campaign.

However, coming into this match, they might struggle against a big physical side. In the UEFA Cup last year, Atleti were sailing until the Last 32 when they came up against a physical Bolton side.

Bolton, battling relegation from the Premiership at the time, outmuscled them and ran out 1-0 aggregate winners.

It's fair to say that Schalke are more refined than Gary Megson's side, but the physicality is obvious.

A side containing a whole team of players over 1.80m and including Bordon, Kuranyi, Howedes and Westermann can be expected to be a danger at set-pieces and Ruttman has clearly used this to advantage.

All three goals in the 3-0 win over Hannover were from set-pieces, the late equaliser at the weekend against Werder came indirectly after a header from a corner was saved and Pander scored from a free-kick to beat Atletico 1-0 in the first leg.

Schalke may be tempted to sit back and hope for a goalless draw, but at the same time knowing that a goal makes life very hard for Atleti needing three.

As a result, set-pieces are even more crucial in seeing Schalke through this game.

Match Betting Previews 23-25 August 2008 >>> Premiership: Blackburn v Hull - Liverpool v Middlesbrough - Newcastle v Bolton - Stoke v Aston Villa - Spurs v Sunderland - WBA v Everton - Fulham v Arsenal - Wigan v Chelsea - Man City v West Ham - Portsmouth v Man Utd Bundesliga: Dortmund v Bayern - Werder v Schalke - Stuttgart v Leverkusen Ligue 1: Le Havre v Marseille - Lyon v Grenoble - Bordeaux v Nantes Champions League: Arsenal v Twente - Liverpool v Standard - Atletico v Schalke

Whilst it's tough to find value in the result (Atleti are about right at $1.75 to win the game), Schalke do look capable of grabbing a goal regardless of how many they concede.

With set-pieces crucial, consideration must be given to the big Brazilian defender Marcelo Bordon, a goalscorer in the win over Hannover.

Since moving to Germany, playing at Stuttgart and Schalke, he has scored 24 goals in 245 games, and is the best option amongst the non-strikers to net from a set-piece. Paddypower quote $17.00 on him to score anytime.

BETZINE UK TIP *****

Bet: Bordon (Schalke) to score anytime Odds: $17.00 Stake: 1pts Bookies: Paddypower

Match Betting Previews 23-25 August 2008 >>> Premiership: Blackburn v Hull - Liverpool v Middlesbrough - Newcastle v Bolton - Stoke v Aston Villa - Spurs v Sunderland - WBA v Everton - Fulham v Arsenal - Wigan v Chelsea - Man City v West Ham - Portsmouth v Man Utd Bundesliga: Dortmund v Bayern - Werder v Schalke - Stuttgart v Leverkusen Ligue 1: Le Havre v Marseille - Lyon v Grenoble - Bordeaux v Nantes Champions League: Arsenal v Twente - Liverpool v Standard - Atletico v Schalke