FIRST TEAM
02/08/2010

Cup quarter-final in Bremen

1899 Hoffenheim meet Werder Bremen on Tuesday night (20:30 CET) in the quarter-final of the DFB Cup.

Hoffenheim have every reason to be confident following their victory over Hannover 96 on Saturday, though coach Ralf Rangnick still believes his side are the underdogs against the holders: "We'll try and cause an upset, but we'll have to keep things tight and pull together," said the 1899 boss. "The team showed that they are more than capable of doing that against Hannover."

Beck and Obasi out

Rangnick will however be without several key personnel for the trip to Bremen. Andreas Beck and Chinedu Obasi will not be travelling to the Weserstadion after picking up injuries in the 2-1 victory over Hannover. Josip Simunic (calf) and Marvin Compper (ankle) are also doubtful. Goalkeeper Timo Hildebrand is also struggling with a calf problem, though Rangnick announced he would be taking no risks with his players: "We're not going to play anyone who's not 100 per cent fit."

Werder also confident

Bremen have made it this far in the cup thanks to wins over St. Pauli, Union Berlin and 1. FC Kaiserslautern. Hoffenheim captain Per Nilsson believes the Green-Whites' main strength is in attack: "In Claudio Pizarro they have one of the best strikers in the Bundesliga." The Peruvian hitman scored the winner in last weekend's 2-1 win over Hertha BSC Berlin, though he is yet to find the target in the cup this season. Nilsson for one will be trying to keep it that way: "It's a massive game tomorrow," added the Swede.

Three other DFB Cup matches are taking place on Wednesday:

Bayern München - SpVgg Greuther Fürth (19.00 CET)
FC Augsburg - 1. FC Köln (19.00 CET)
VfL Osnabrück - FC Schalke 04 (20.30 CET)

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