FIRST TEAM
04/08/2010

Put the ball in the net!

This Saturday (10.04.2010), 1899 Hoffenheim welcome 1. FC Köln to the Rhein-Neckar-Arena (kick off 15:30 CET, referee: Günther Perl).

It's 11th against 13th in the Bundesliga this Saturday, with both sides going into the match on the back of heavy defeats on Matchday 29. While Köln endured a 3-0 pasting at the hands of Hertha BSC, Hoffenheim were dismantled by VfL Wolfsburg 4-0. Despite that setback, Ralf Rangnick's charges are hopeful of a return to winning ways at the weekend: "We need to produce the kind of performance we showed in the first half last week over the full 90 minutes," said the 1899 boss, before cutting to the chase: "We need to put the ball in the net!"

Obasi an alternative

"We can't allow Köln any space and we need to attack them from the start," continued Rangnick. On that note, Chinedu Obasi could be an option to start, although captain Per Nilsson (knee) will miss out alongside Matthias Jaissle, Isaac Vorsah and Demba Ba. There is still a question mark over goalkeeper Timo Hildebrand (back). For Köln, Youssef Mohamad and Zoran Tosic are suspended, while Pierre Wome (knee), Christopher Schorch (cruciate ligament), Adil Chihi (knee) and Kevin Pezzoni (knee) are all on the treatment table.

26,950 Hoffenheimers against 11 Kölners

With Köln forced to travel to Hoffenheim without their fans as per a DFL ruling, the away block will be completely empty on Saturday. The Köln fans will be able to follow the action on giant screens at the club's own RheinEnergieStadion business area, but the 1899 boys will have the usual strong support in the arena. "It's the team's duty now to give something back to the fans," said sporting director Jan Schindelmeiser.

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