FIRST TEAM
04/22/2011

Hoffenheim to lend a helping hand?

It would be the first time that 1899 Hoffenheim took all three points against Bayer 04 Leverkusen, should they manage to beat them on Matchday 31 in the Bundesliga. Not only that, but they could play a deciding role in the title race this season. If the Kraichgau outfit were to win in Leverkusen and Borussia Dortmund won against Borussia Mönchengladbach, BVB will have secured the Bundesliga title with time to spare thanks to the help of Hoffenheim.

It would put the league leaders 11 points clear with only three Matchdays remaining, but 1899 Hoffenheim are concerning themselves with the numbers game. "All we're interested in doing is putting in four good performances and celebrating a couple of victories with the fans", explained Andreas Beck, while Sebastian Rudy went on to add: "We are fully aware we can have an affect on the title race, but we only concentrating on ourselves and taking all three points on Saturday." 1899 are certainly hoping add positively to their Bundesliga record this season as they have currently won 10, drawn 10 and lost 10 putting them on 40 points in 9th place. However, Bayer striker Stefan Kießling admits there is little at stake for the Sinsheim side, but believes they still pose a threat: "Hoffenheim are comfortable in mid-table and chances are there won't be a lot of movement either upwards or downwards for them. It certainly allows them to play freely, but with all due respect to Hoffenheim, it's clear to us that we can't give them a sniff of taking anything from this match", he stated, underlining Leverkusen's unwillingness to be in a giving mood over Easter. "We're not travelling to Leverkusen to simply give them the points and in no way are we looking to help someone in the title race. It's important that we keep the game scoreless for as long as possible. We'll be able to play freely, while Leverkusen will be under pressure to perform in front of their own fans", was 1899 head coach Marco Pezzaiuoli's take on this weekend's encounter.

Bayer convinced of victory

Leverkusen are still smarting somewhat from the bitterly disappointing 1-5 loss to reigning champions FC Bayern München, but everyone agreed that the team "had done absolutely everything they could possibly do wrong in the first half", as manager Jupp Heynckes put it. However, the second placed team have put the difficult defeat behind them are looking to bounce back against Hoffenheim to secure their sixth victory in a row inside the BayArena. "I'm convinced that we'll take all three points against Hoffenheim even if it isn't easy", stated assistant coach Peter Hermann. Things are definitely looking good for Bayer 04 as defenders Stefan Reinartz and Manuel Friedrich are the latest and last casualties to return to training allowing Heynckes to choose from a full squad of players.

Jaissle returns, while Ibertsberger misses out

The personnel situation in Hoffenheim doesn't look quite as rosy. Andreas Ibertsberger is unlikely to even travel with the team for Saturday's match after being struck down by a nasty virus. Sejad Salihovic is another player to miss out, as he is still yet to recover from a troublesome knee injury. The season is already over for Tobias Weis following a successful operation on his injured ankle after playing the full 90 minutes against Eintracht Frankfurt, while youngster Denis Thomalla is also recovering from surgery and unavailable. Andreas Beck, however, does return after completing his one match suspension, as does Matthias Jaissle who returned to first team training this week after a short recovery period.

Stats and Facts

Set-pieces are the speciality of the day. Both Hoffenheim and Leverkusen have scored more goals from dead-ball situations than any other teams in the league. 1899 have put 21 in the back of the net, only to be topped by Leverkusen who have scored on 23 occasions. A worrying fact for Hoffenheim is that Bayer 04 are the in-form team in the league since the winter break and are currently undefeated against 1899. Maybe it's time for them to break the duck.

 

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