Friday, May 13, 2011

Bundesliga preview: Round 34

15:30 Hamburg - Borussia Monchengladbach
15:30 Mainz - St Pauli
15:30 Hoffenheim - Wolfsburg
15:30 Freiburg - Bayer Leverkusen
15:30 Hannover - Nurnberg
15:30 Kaiserslautern - Werder Bremen

Hamburg - Borussia Monchengladbach

* Hamburg have won just twice in their last six games against Borussia Monchengladbach, something unseen in their 48-year history in the Bundesliga.

* Michael Oenning won his first Bundesliga game as against Gladbach with Nurnberg. He has never won twice against any team in the league, and is yet do this even once with Hamburg.

* Borussia Monchengladbach have recorded three wins on the trot, without conceding a single goal. Should they win on Saturday with a clean sheet, they will equal their record from season 1975-1976.

* In eleven games under Lucien Favre, Gladbach have conceded just eight times. Before the coach's arrival the team have suffered 56 goals in 22 games.

Last stand | Gladbach face final fight in relegation battle

TEAM NEWS:

Hamburg
Michael Oenning will have to do without the services of Romeo Castelen, Marcel Jansen, and Mladen Petric. David Jarolim is suspended for the game after picking up his 10th yellow card of the season last Saturday against Bayer Leverkusen.

Borussia Monchengladbach
Gladbach will be able to field a full-strength team on Saturday, with only long-term casualties Jens Wissing and Jean-Sebastien Jaures out of the squad with injuries.


Mainz - St Pauli

* Mainz are unbeaten in four games, picking up three wins, drawing once, and conceding just one goal.

* Andre Schuerrle and Lewis Holtby, who will leave Mainz at the end of the season, are respectively the team's highest goalscorer and assist provided.

* St Pauli have suffered five relegations from the Bundesliga, in 1978, 1991, 1997, 2002 and 2011 with coach Holger Stanislawski a part of the team on three occasions.

* The Pirates have won just once in 11 games against Mainz, drawing seven times.

TEAM NEWS:

Mainz
Goalkeeper Heinz Muller will miss the game for Thomas Tuchel's men with an injury together with Adam Szalai. Eugen Polanski is suspended for this game for accumulating 10 yellow cards.

St Pauli
Holger Stanislawski will have to do without the services of goalkeeper Mathias Hain, defenders Bastian Ozcipka, Carsten Rothenbach, Moritz Volz and Carlos Zambrano, midfielders Timo Schultz and Fabian Boll, and striker Rouwen Hennings.


Hoffenheim - Wolfsburg

* Hoffenheim last won against Wolfsburg a little less than three years ago. Since then, they have earned just one draw against the Wolves, losing three times.

* The Sinsheim outfit have been outscored by 10 goals in their five games against Wolfsburg.

* Grafite have scored three goals, and provided four assists in five games against Hoffenheim.

* Felix Magath has saved three teams from relegation as a coach: Hamburg in season 1995-1996, Eintracht Frankfurt in 1999-2000, and Stuttgart in 2000-2001.

TEAM NEWS:

Hoffenheim
Marco Pezzaiuoli will be scratching his head ahead of the clash on Saturday as defenders Manuel Gulde, Josip Simunic, midfielders Boris Vukcevic and Tobias Weis and striker Denis Thomalla are all definitely out of the coach's last game in charge of Hoffenheim before Holger Stanislawski of relegated St Pauli takes over in the summer.

Wolfsburg
Felix Magath has a full-strength squad at his disposal, and will be able to field his strongest line-up to secure Wolfsburg's place in the Bundesliga next season.


Freiburg - Bayer Leverkusen

* Freiburg have one just once in their last nine games against Bayer Leverkusen, picking up two draws, and losing six times.

* Robin Dutt faces a 'Catch 22' situation. Should Freiburg win, and Bayern Munich defeat Stuttgart, the team he will coach next season, namely Bayer Leverkusen, will slip from the automatic Champions League entry spot, and will have to go through qualification to enter Europe's elite tournament.

* Bayer Leverkusen's Jupp Heynckes is in a similiar situation as a loss would give his future team Bayern Munich the chance to claim second place and qualify automatically for the Champions League.

* The Aspirins' last game away to Freiburg ended in a 5-0 triumph, their biggest away win since a 9-1 rout of SSV Ulm in season 1999-2000.

TEAM NEWS:

Freiburg
Goalkeeper Simon Pouplin, defender Pavel Krmas, midfielders Yacine Abdessadki, Johannes Flum, Daniel Williams, and striker Tommy Bechmann are sidelined for Freiburg. Omer Toprak, who will join Bayer Leverkusen in the summer, is suspended after picking up a red card against Borussia Monchengladbach last Saturday.

Bayer Leverkusen
Jupp Heynckes will have a full-strength squad to choose from as his team prepares to defend second place in their last match of this Bundesliga season.


Hannover - Nurnberg

* Hannover lost their first-ever home game under Mirko Slomka last year against Nurnberg with Albert Bunjaku netting a hat-trick for the visitors, and Jiri Stajner scroing for the hosts.

* The 96ers will achieve a new club record for points picked up at home should they win on Saturday. They are now on 34, one more than what they collected from all their games last season.

* Nurnberg could achieve their 100th win in the Bundesliga on Saturday.

* The club's three leading goalscorers, Julian Schieber, Ilkay Gundogan, and Mehmet Ekici will all leave at the end of the season.

TEAM NEWS:

Hannover
Christopher Avevor, Leon Andreasen, Carlitos and Mohammed Abdellaoue all miss out for Mirko Slomka's team, who have already qualified for the Europa League.

Nurnberg
Striker Albert Bunjaku would not be able to continue his excellent streak against Hannover as he is sidelined, together with midfielder Mike Frantz.


Kaiserslautern - Werder Bremen

* Kaiserslautern have lost their last three games at home against Werder Bremen.

* Marco Kurz's men have won three on the trot, conceding just once in the process.

* Werder Bremen have not recorded a loss in their last four away games, winning thrice and drawing once.

* The Green-Whites have picked up 34 wins against Kaiserslautern, but have lost 34 times as well. The two teams have shared 21 draws.

TEAM NEWS:

Kaiserslautern
Marco Kurz will have to do without the services of Florian Dick, Jan Simunek, Ivo Ilicevic and Jan Moravek who are all out of this game, which will have no impact on Kaiserslautern's future in the Bundesliga as they have already booked their place for next season.

Werder Bremen
Thomas Schaaf is likely to have some serious selection headaches especially regarding his team's defence as Per Mertesacker, Naldo, Sebastian Prodl, Mikael Silvestre and Sebastian Boenish are all injured. In addition, Tim Borowski, Daniel Jensen and Aaron Hunt are unavailable, and so are Sandro Wagner and Claudio Pizarro.