TSG ready to face HSV: “Now it's decisive”

Markus Gisdol on…

…the opponents:

I'm concerned that it will be a very rough game. Hamburg have overstepped the boundaries recently, and not for the first time this season. There is the danger that they can go overboard. Aside from that, their running efforts and work ethic throughout the 90 minutes makes them stand out. The club is in a difficult situation at the moment but the players have recognised that and are taking on the challenge. They have put in some good performances of late, but have had some bad luck at times.

…personnel:

A few players have had knocks this week. The worst at the moment is Anthony Modeste. It's looking likely for Saturday. He took a knock to his knee and has had problems with the ligament since then. Sebastian Rudy and Adam Szalai have thigh problems, as has Pirmin Schwegler. We took Adam out of training for a short while and are hoping that he can now continue. He has been carrying the injury for a few days already. Sebastian has the best chance of being fit in time. Pirmin only returned to training on Wednesday so we will have to wait and see. We have two days left though and we will wait and see how training goes for all of those players.

…the current situation:

We were all disappointed after the Schalke game, myself just as much as the players. We didn't play the way we wanted to in the first half. The players have thought a lot of things over, which is important and the right thing to do.

The season is entering its final stages. There are just ten games left and this is where it gets decisive. We have talked about that with the players. At this stage of the season you can create a really special atmosphere with the fans and achieve something wonderful and extraordinary. That itself can give the players energy.

We haven't been in this sort of position, at this stage in the season, for a while. We are in the quarterfinals of the cup, even if it is a difficult fixture, and we're seventh in the league, all in spite of not being that great since the turn of the year. But we're not going to make any big statements yet. That didn't go so well in the past. All our concentration right now is on Hamburg.

Previous meetings:

The head-to-head record is evenly balanced. Out of 13 fixtures between the sides, Andreas Beck & Co. won have won five, Hamburg have won five and the remaining three games have ended as draws. TSG are clearly more successful at home than they are away. Four out of six games played in the WIRSOL Rhein-Neckar-Arena have ended with Hoffenheim victories, while one of them has resulted in defeat. TSG also have their noses clearly in front when you look at the number of goals scored by each side. Compared to Hamburg's tally of just 14 goals, Hoffenheim have scored 23 in this fixture, which is their goal record against any Bundesliga club.

The opponents:

Once again it's nervy times for the boys from Hamburg. Sitting 15th in the table after 24 games, they are embroiled in yet another relegation battle. As situation that is familiar to them. This time last year they fought to the death to stay in the top flight and ultimately managed to save themselves from relegation. They have lost twice in their last four games – away to Bayern and Frankfurt – drawing their last two matches on home soil, including a noteworthy goalless draw against a rejuvenated Dortmund side.

Key battles:

Andreas Beck's expectation is that “our opponents will fight for every inch”. It may well be then that aggressive, but fair 1v1 duels on the pitch will play an important role in this fixture. With 268 challenges entered per game on average, Hoffenheim are among the most aggressive teams in the league. Only Bayer 04 Leverkusen have more with 269. Hamburg are also not shy of aggressive tactics, sitting in fourth place with an average of 246 challenges entered per game.

Match facts and statistics »