German Bundesliga
2009-10-24 - TSG Hoffenheim vs FC Nurnberg
A Sports Betting Pick by Niko
Rhein-Neckar Arena
Saturday, 24th October 2009 – kickoff 15:30
TSG Hoffenheim
Hoffenheim had a small crisis in the last couple of matches having only one goal scored in two away matches which were both lost, first in Mainz and then another loss last weekend in Bremen.
Their position at the table is pretty good so far, they are seventh and their ambition this year is to fight for places that lead in the European competitions. They had a five match winning streak which was broken two weeks ago, and now they are expected to bounce back.
Hoffenheim`s coach Ralf Rangnick is expected to field an offensive formation again with three strikers.
Vedad Ibisevic is certainly the main star in the attack, and he has been in good form lately, also scoring very important goal for his national selection Bosnia that lead them in the play-offs.
However, the bad news for coach Rangnick is that he will have to go without midfielders Matthias Jaissle and Tobias Weis (both recovering from injury) and without Demba Ba and the right-back Andreas Beck (both torn muscle), which is a major blow for the team. They will be out of the team for at least two weeks.
Even worse news for the team is that Prince Tagoe has been diagnosed with a rare heart condition which may end his career.
Per Nilsson is set to return in the starting eleven together with Andreas Ibertsberger at the right-back position.
FC Nurnberg
Last season Nurnberg had the by far best defense of the 2. Bundesliga, with only 29 goals allowed.
However that is not the case this year, and they already have conceded 12 goals which proves that there is something wrong in their defense.
They won convincingly last week against Hertha 3-0, and the same starting eleven will be on the pitch. Their coach expects at least a point from this match, and their tactics will be to endanger Hoffenheim with counter-attacks.
They had a bad last month with four consecutive losses and now are sitting among the bottom three teams in the league.
Setback for the team will be the absence of the team captain Wolf who got injured on training and won`t be able to help his teammates.
The team plays with five defenders and only one striker so probably they will try to hold Hoffenheim not to score as long as possible.
The Betting Verdict
Last month these two sides met in the DFB Cup competition and Hoffenheim won. After two straight losses i expect Hoffenheim to get back on winning tracks again and they have to get a win here if they do not want to drop down further on the table.
Nurnberg will be probably satisfied if they get a point out of this match but that is very tough task to do, having in mind that they have only scored two goals last month and they use their defense as their main weapon.
When their captain is not playing this team is much weaker, and probably Hoffenheim will know how to use that weakness in own benefit.
The Statistics :
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The Pick :
TSG Hoffenheim-FC Nurnberg 2-0
BEST BETTING TIP :
I think that another home win for TSG Hoffenheim will be the outcome of this match
