FIRST TEAM
10/22/2009

1899 welcome the 'Club' to the Rhein-Neckar-Arena

This Saturday (24.10.09, 15:30) sees 1899 Hoffenheim take on 1. FC Nürnberg in the Bundesliga. Following 1899's in the second round of the DFB Cup, this will be the second meeting between the two sides in the space of just a few weeks.

Hoffenheim coach Ralf Rangnick will have to do without Matthias Jaissle, Tobias Weis (both still recovering from injury), Demba Ba and Andreas Beck (both torn muscle), although Per Nilsson is set to return to first team action following his broken arm. Rangnick is expecting a positive reaction from his troops following the two away defeats in Mainz and Bremen. "We want to win and keep pace at the top: This game is crucial for us in terms of the table." The entire team has been focused in training all week and the Hoffenheim supremo is confident ahead of the match with Nürnberg: "The team is confident that they can beat Nürnberg. We've been enjoying our football this week and we've been playing with plenty of tempo." Sporting director Jan Schindelmeiser agreed wholeheartedly: "The two away defeats were obviously a blow but the squad has made a good impression over the past week in training and we need to get the three points against Nürnberg."

After Nürnberg's convincing victory over bottom side Hertha Berlin, Rangnick is expecting to find his side up against a team full of confidence. "They were far more of an attacking side against Hertha and they took far more risks. Still, we're the home team and we want to put them under pressure from the start and pick up the three points." Andreas Ibertsberger is set to replace the injured Beck at right-back and the Austrian is keen to put in a winning display: "We'll be playing for the win and we're all up for it. We've had a good week's training and now we want to implement what we've practised out on the pitch on Saturday." Ibertsberger also has a plan to prevent Hoffenheim's recent bad habit of conceding goals early on: "We are going to be focussed right from the off and try to impose our game onto them. That shouldn't be too much of a problem."

"We need to prove a point or two," said Nürnberg coach Michael Oenning as his side go in search of their first away victory of the season at the Rhein-Neckar-Arena. The 44-year-old tactician is likely to stick with the same eleven that beat Hertha so convincingly on matchday nine: "We played well in Berlin so I don't see any reason to shake things up. However, it might be that I'm forced to," said Oenning.

Download Now!
Print Page to top