"It's not going to be a pretty game" – TSG primed for Paderborn trip

Markus Gisdol on…

…the opposition:

I watched Paderborn play against Leverkusen. Bayer 04 ran out clear 3-0 winners in the end but Paderborn could have also won the game. It was 0-0 after 70 minutes and Paderborn had goalscoring opportunities. They didn't get their just desserts for their performance.

…personnel:

Pirmin Schwegler will be missing after picking up his fifth yellow card. We also have three players unavailable due to injury. Steven Zuber has a back problem, Kai Herdling's knee has been troubling him and Sejad Salihovic took a knock to his calf in training. He felt a slight twinge so it looks like a muscle strain.

…the current situation:

Paderborn are going to deploy their usual long ball tactics on Saturday. It's something that we can't prevent completely. Central defenders will play long balls forward and every free kick, even those from the halfway line, will sail high into the penalty area. That means it's going to be a certain type of game. It'll focus around both teams trying to win the second ball and it's not going to be pretty. It provides us with a special challenge. It's a 50/50 game and it will be a disaster if we don't take it seriously enough.

Oliver Baumann on…

…the opposition:

Paderborn will go into the game fighting. They are going to fight tooth and nail and there will definitely be a lot of emotions in the match. We have to be prepared.

…the current situation:

We want to achieve the best outcome possible this season but we're only thinking one game at a time. We're not here to write headlines. It's obvious that two consecutive wins would be really good for us. Every positive run of results, no matter how small, is welcome.

We always want to get three points. That's our aim in every match, regardless of who we're playing, and we always have to give 100 percent. We've grown in self-confidence thanks to the win over Hamburg and we'll take that into the game against Paderborn.

The upcoming game:

The sides haven't met that often before. However, TSG are unbeaten against Paderborn. In fact, they have a 100% record against the club from North Rhine-Westphalia. Gisdol's men won 1-0 in the WIRSOL Rhein-Neckar-Arena earlier this season. The other two meetings came in the 2007/08 second-division campaign, ending in 1-0 and 2-0 wins for TSG. No TSG keeper has conceded against SCP to date. It would be great if that record was still intact after the weekend!

The opponents:

SCP have won only one of their last 15 Bundesliga matches. André Breitenreiter's side haven't scored in any of their previous four games, which have ended in 4-0, 3-0, 2-0 and 6-0 losses. The newly promoted side started the season strongly but have dropped off recently. The consequences? They were seventh after 10 games but 15 games later find themselves in 16th place.

Key battles:

Paderborn take on the role of the underdog, even in their own stadium. They sit deep and defend physically before breaking quickly. The possession stats give a clear indication of Paderborn's style of play. So far this season they have averaged 42% possession per match. The opponents are allowed to dictate the play, a role which TSG will have to take up this weekend. They will need to find gaps in the SCP defence whilst also ensuring that they aren't susceptible on the counter. In order to do that, TSG will need to be wary of the Paderborn players' dribbling skills – they have won 64% of their 1v1 duels to date.

Match facts and statistics »