Thursday, March 29, 2012
31.03. - 01.04. 2012. Predrag Jokanović (Madeira, Portugal) pred derbi u Lisabonu
Preview Matches | by
0Championship Opta Facts – March 30-31
Doncaster v Birmingham
Doncaster are without a win in their last seven meetings with Birmingham in all competitions, losing all seven and netting a total of just four goals in the process.
In Doncaster, the home side have won just two of their last seven clashes with the Blues.
The Blues have thrown away 25 points from leading positions this season, no side has thrown away more than this.
Donny are without a win in their last six games and have failed to score in two of their last three.
Chris Hughton's charges have picked up just one win in their last seven games, losing three and drawing three.
Rovers haven't kept a clean sheet in any of their last 11 games.
Cardiff v Millwall
Four of the last five meetings between the two sides have ended in a draw.
There have been seven red cards brandished in the last eight clashes between the two sides.
72% of the goals the Bluebirds have shipped this season have come after the break, a league-high figure.
The Lions have conceded a joint-league-high 19 goals in the final 15 minutes of their games this season.
Cardiff are without a win in four games at home, drawing two and losing two.
Millwall have won three of their last four league games on the road, scoring three goals in each of those victories.
Brighton v Middlesbrough
Brighton are without a win in their last eight meetings with Middlesbrough in all competitions, losing seven (including each of the last five) and drawing just one.
The last two games between the two sides (one in the league, one in the League Cup) have both ended in a 1-0 home win for Boro'.
Boro' have conceded four own-goals this season, more than any other side.
33% of the goals Middlesbrough have scored have come from outside the box, the joint-highest proportion in the Championship.
The Seagulls have failed to score in just one of their last 15 Championship games.
Boro' have drawn each of their last three games 1-1.
Bristol City v Derby
The last four meetings between the two sides have ended in either a 2-0 or a 2-1 scoreline (twice each, three wins for City, one for Derby).
On home soil, City have lost just two of their last 12 clashes with the Rams (in all competitions).
The Robins are without a win in their last four games and have won just one of their last 12.
The Rams have won three of their last four games.
City have failed to find the back of the net in seven of their last 12 league games.
County have kept just one clean sheet in their last 10 league fixtures.
Crystal Palace v Nottm Forest
Palace have won just one of their last six meetings with Forest, although that win did last time around, 1-0 away back in December.
At Selhurst Park, the Eagles have failed to win on each of Forest's last three visits, losing two and drawing one.
Forest have shipped 20 headed goals this season, which equates to 34% of their total goals against, both league-high figures.
The Eagles have suffered just one defeat in their last 12 Championship fixtures.
Forest have lost just one of their last five games on the road, winning two and drawing two.
Darren Ambrose has scored in three of his last four starts for Palace, although two of those goals did come from the penalty spot
Hull v Coventry
The last four meetings with Coventry and Hull have produced a total of just three goals, with thereof those games ending 1-0 and one ending 0-0.
The Tigers are unbeaten in their last five games against the Sky Blues.
Hull have only netted three headed goals this season, which equates to 8% of their total goal haul, both league-lows.
Only 8% of the goals Coventry have shipped this season have come from outside the box, a league-low percentage.
The Tigers have lost three in a row, the worst current losing streak in the division.
Coventry are unbeaten in their last five league games, drawing four of those fixtures.
Ipswich v Barnsley
When the sides met earlier this season at Oakwell, Ipswich won 5-3 in the highest scoring game ever between the two sides.
In 38 meetings between these sides in all competitions there has only ever been one goalless draw.
The Tractor Boys have netted a joint-high 18 headed goals this season.
The Tykes have gained just one point from losing positions this season, a league-low figure.
Ipswich have scored exactly one goal in each of their last three games, winning one, losing one and drawing one.
Barnsley have failed to score in four of their last five games, netting one goal last time out against Peterborough.
Leeds Utd v Watford
Leeds have suffered just one defeat in their last 11 meetings with Watford in all competitions.
Robert Snodgrass has netted a total of three goals in his last three meetings with the Hornets.
Luciano Becchio have netted three goals in his last four games for United.
The Hornets are unbeaten in six games in the league, winning four and drawing two.
Leeds have scored three goals from direct free-kicks, a joint-league-high figure.
Irish youngster Sean Murray has bagged five goals in his last seven games for Watford.
Peterborough v Leicester
Peterborough have won just one of their last seven meetings with Leicester.
Two of the last three and three of the last six clashes between the two sides have ended in a 1-1 scoreline.
A league-high 28% of the goals Posh have conceded this season have come from outside the box.
54% of the Foxes' goals have come in the first half, a league-high figure.
Posh have won just one of their last four league games, failing to score in each of the last two.
Jermaine Beckford has bagged a total of four goals in his last four league games for the Foxes, although he has failed to find the net in each of his last two.
Portsmouth v Burnley
Portsmouth have suffered just one defeat in their last 14 meetings with Burnley, in all competitions.
Pompey have lost just two points from leading positions at home this season, a joint-league-best figure.
The Clarets are without a win in seven games, the longest current run with a victory in the Championship.
Pompey have won two of their last three games after failing to secure in single victory in their previous nine games.
Burnley have failed to find the back of the net in two of their last three games.
The Solent side have failed to score in seven of their last 10 games.
West Ham v Reading
The Hammers have enjoyed just one win in their last six meetings with Reading, losing four and drawing one.
There have been a total of three sendings-off in the last two clashes between the two sides.
The Royals have lost just five points from leading positions this season, fewer than any other side.
The Hammers are unbeaten in 11 games, although seven of those games have been drawn.
Reading's last five games have produced a total of 18 goals, an average of 3.6 per game.
Only Coventry (15) have thrown away more points from leading positions at home than West Ham (11) this season.
Blackpool v Southampton
Blackpool have won just one of their last eight meetings with Southampton in all competitions.
The Saints have won once and drawn twice on their last three visits to Blackpool.
Only 6% of the goals Southampton have scored this season have come from outside the box, the lowest proportion in the division.
The Saints have bagged a league-high nine penalty goals this season.
The Seasiders have netted 11 goals in the final 15 minutes of their games, a joint league-high haul.
Southampton have won four games in a row, the longest current winning streak in the division and are unbeaten in 12, also a league-best run.
30.03. (Fri) 20:30 Borussia D. - Stuttgart
Bongarts
| PROBABLE LINEUPS |
DORTMUND  Weidenfeller Piszczek, Subotic, Hummels, Schmelzer Bender, Gundogan Kuba, Kagawa, Grosskreutz Lewandowski | STUTTGART  Ulreich Sakai, Tasci, Niedermeier, Boka Kvist, Kuzmanovic Harnik, Hajnal, Schieber Ibisevic |
In defensive midfield, Jurgen Klopp is tipped to give Ilkay Gundogan the nod, as the Turk has become a key player in the last two matches. The trainer will have a nearly full squad available, with only long-term casualty Julian Koch absent.
Vedad Ibisevic is set to return from suspension and could replace Cacau in the Stuttgart starting XI. Serdar Tasci is also expected to make his comeback following an injury lay-off, and will likely displace Maza.
Friday's match comes far too early for Khalid Boulahrouz and Shinji Okazaki, however, as the two are still recovering from knocks.
| DID YOU KNOW? |
- Dortmund have not lost in the Bundesliga for 21 games. Their last defeat was on
September 18, 2011.
- The title holders have attracted a club record 80,460 average attendance at home games this season. The figure is 99.7 per cent of the full capacity of the Westfalenstadion.
- In 10 appearances since the winter break, Shinji Kagawa has scored eight goals and made four assists.
- Stuttgart have won four of their last five games, conceding just twice in the process.
- After a strong start to the season, VfB sunk to 11th place before finding their form again. They now are seventh, one point away from fifth spot.
- Vedad Ibisevic has found the net four times for the Swabians since his mid-season signing from Hoffenheim. Only Martin Harnik, Shinji Okazaki and Cacau have scored more for VfB.
The Swabians have looked impressive at the back, and given their recent success, will be no push-overs. But Dortmund have won almost every game this spring, and are playing at home: they are clear favourites and should come out on top.
Editor's Prediction
Dortmund 1-0 VfB Stuttgart 
Preview Matches | by
0Bundesliga Opta Facts - 30 March - 1 April
Borussia Dortmund - VfB Stuttgart
Only against Schalke (39) have Stuttgart won more games in the Bundesliga than they have managed against Dortmund (38).
The Swabians have enjoyed 12 wins in their 43 BL visits to Dortmund, only against Gladabch have VfB won more away games in the German top flight (13).
Only against Bremen (39) have Borussia Dortmund lost more BL games than against Stuttgart (38).
Borussia Dortmund have now gone 21 league games without defeat (W17, D4), the club‘s longest-ever unbeaten run in the Bundesliga.
Jürgen Klopp's men have taken 28 out of the 30 points available since the turn of the year - no other side in the Bundesliga has picked up more than 20 points in 2012.
Dortmund and Stuttgart have both picked up 13 points from their last five BL games, more than any other side in the Bundesliga during that period.
Stuttgart have only conceded two goals in total in their last five league games.
This game will feature three of the six players with the most goal involvements (goals + assists) in 2012. Dortmund midfielders Shinji Kagawa and Jakub Blaszczykowski and VfB striker Martin Harnik have all been directly involved in nine goals since the turn of the year. Only Gladbach's Reus and Schalke's Huntelaar have had a hand in more goals this year (10 each).
BVB midfielder Sven Bender has averaged more points per game (2.28) than any other player in BL history with at least 50 top-flight appearances. His teammate Robert Lewandowski is a close second in that ranking with an average of 2.23 points won per game.
Dortmund's Polish internationals Robert Lewandowski (17 goals, six assists), Jakub Blaszczykowski (three goals, eight assists) and Lukasz Piszczek (three goals, seven assists) have been directly involved in 39 of Borussia's 59 (66%) league goals this term.
1. FC Nürnberg - FC Bayern München
Bayern are unbeaten against Nürnberg in eight games in all competitions (W5, D3).
However, Bayern's last away win at Nürnberg came over six years ago, when the Munich giants beat FCN 2-1 on the road in September 2005. They have won none of their last four visits to the Easycredit-Stadion since then (D3, L1). Against no other current BL side have FCB gone that long without an away win.
The last time Bayern had netted as many goals after 27 games in a BL season as they have in this campaign (66) was back in 1987-88 when they had scored two more goals (68) and accrued the same number of points (57, adjusted to three-points rule).
Only once in their BL history have the Munich-based side conceded fewer goals 27 games into the season than they have this term (18, same as 2002-03): In 2007-08 they had only shipped 21 goals at the same point of the campaign and ended up setting a new BL record for the fewest goals conceded in a single season (21).
Nürnberg have lost their last three games on the trot and have seen their cushion over the teams in the relegation zone shrink from nine to four points during that period.
Bayern have won their last three league games on the bounce, scoring a total of 15 goals in the process.
Only league-leaders Dortmund (17) have conceded fewer goals than Bayern (18, same as Gladbach).
This game will see the team with the most goals (Bayern, 66) take on the team with the second-fewest goals scored (Nürnberg, 25).
FCN gaffer Dieter Hecking made his BL debut as a player under the tutelage of current Bayern manager Jupp Heynckes who subbed him on in a 2-0 defeat for Gladbach against Düsseldorf in November 1984, when he was with Gladbach.
Thomas Müller could feature in his 100th top-flight game, while his teammate Philipp Lahm is set to make his 200th BL appearance for Bayern Munich.
1. FC Kaiserslautern - Hamburger SV
Lautern have won none of their last 17 league games (D9, L8), their longest-ever winless run in the Bundesliga and currently the longest run of its kind in the top flight.
HSV have gone six games without a full three-point haul (D1, L5) - only upcoming opponents Lautern are currently without a win for longer.
The Red Devils‘ last win over Hamburg came over seven years ago when FCK beat the Redshorts 2-1 on home soil in September 2004. Since that win, Lautern have lost four and drawn two of their six BL meetings with HSV.
Lautern have only registered three wins in 27 games so far this term. No team with fewer than four victories at this point of the season has ever managed to retain its top-flight status.
Additionally, the Red Devils are already seven points adrift of safety. No team more than six points away from safety after 27 BL games has ever managed to stay up.
FCK have gone eight BL home games (D4, L4) without a win, a first in the club's history.
Last week's 2-0 defeat at Freiburg was the 14th league game in which the Red Devils failed to score this term - only three teams have failed to score in more games after 27 fixtures in a BL season.
Hamburg have registered their worst ever record after 27 games of a BL season this term. They have picked up fewer points (27) and have a worse goal difference (-19) than ever before at this point of the season.
27 games into the season, Lautern have only picked up 20 points and three wins, fewer than ever before at this point of a BL season.
Although Hamburg have lost their last two league games on the road (1-3 at Schalke, 1-2 at Wolfsburg), the Redshorts have won a league-high 59% of their points away from home this term.
SV Werder Bremen - 1. FSV Mainz 05
Werder have only lost one of their last 10 league meetings with Mainz (W7, D2) with that defeat coming in the corresponding fixture last season..
Only against Bayern (31) have Mainz conceded more goals in the Bundesliga than against Bremen (24). Against no team have FSV lost more BL games than against Werder (seven).
Mainz have dropped by far the most points from winning positions this season (25) and have already lost five games in which they held the lead.
Thomas Tuchel's side is the only team to find the back of the net in all 10 BL games in 2012. The last game in which FSV failed to score was their 1-0 defeat at Gladbach shortly before Christmas.
Werder's 3-0 win over Hannover three weeks ago was their first win in five games at the Weserstadion since the turn of the year. In the first half of the season, Thomas Schaaf's men had won seven of their eight BL games on home soil.
Mainz‘ only away win this campaign came on the second day of the season when they won 2-1 at Freiburg. Since that victory at Mage Solar Stadion, FSV have lost five and drawn seven of their 12 league games on the road - their longest winless run away from home in the Bundesliga.
Mainz have netted a league-high 56% of their goals in the first 45 minutes, while only Augsburg (25%) have scored a lower proportion of their goals before the break than Werder (34%).
Bremen have already shipped nine goals from corners, a league-high.
Only Bayern (13) have scored more goals in the opening quarter-hour than Mainz (11). Werder, on the other hand, have only netted one goal in the first 15 minutes, fewer than any other team in the league.
Werder's Peruvian striker Claudio Pizarro has been directly involved (scored or assisted) in 23 of Bremen's 41 league goals (56%).
Bayer 04 Leverkusen - SC Freiburg
SCF have lost six and won none of the last seven BL games against Leverkusen. Freiburg's last win over Bayer came over eight years ago when they beat B04 1-0 at home in April 2004.
Freiburg's last away win at Leverkusen dates back even further: in April 2001, SCF won 3-1 at the BayArena. Since that win, Freiburg have lost four and drawn one of their five BL games away at Leverkusen.
Bayer have lost their last three league games on the trot, something that last happened to them in April 2010.
Christian Streich's men have picked up 10 points from their last four games and now sit in 14th place, their best league position since the end of August.
Leverkusen lost 2-0 away at Schalke last weekend and have only taken five points from their eight clashes with the top-four teams.
Only Bayern (10) have scored more goals from set-piece situations than both Leverkusen and Freiburg (eight each) in 2012.
Freiburg have shipped nine goals from corners, a divisional high. Bayer, on the other hand, have scored nine goals from corners with only Schalke netting more that way (10).
SCF have only conceded two goals in their last four league games and have already kept four clean sheets in 10 games in 2012. They had only managed to shut out their opponents on two occasions in the entire first half of the season.
Karim Guede, who opened the scoring for SCF in a 2-0 win over Lautern last weekend, became the 15th different Freiburg player to get his name on the score sheet this season. No other team in the league has had that many different goal scorers this term.
Bayer striker Stefan Kießling has netted five goals in his last six league appearances.
FC Augsburg - 1. FC Köln
This season's reverse fixture was the first BL meeting between the two teams and saw Köln beat FCA 3-0 at home.
Between 2006 and 2008, both sides met four times in Bundesliga 2, with Köln winning three and losing none of these four duels.
Augsburg are unbeaten in five games (W2, D3), conceding only four goals in the process. This is Augsburg's longest-ever unbeaten run in their still short BL history.
This game will see the team with the third-fewest goals scored (28, Augsburg) take on the team with the worst defensive record in the league (Köln, 56 goals conceded). The Billygoats have shipped 10 in their last two games.
Augsburg have only lost two games since the turn of the year - only reigning champions Dortmund (none) have suffered fewer defeats during that period.
Köln have attempted the fewest (on average 8.9 per game) and conceded the most shots (on average 16.3 per game) in the Bundesliga so far this term.
Augsburg (43%) and Köln (44%) are the two teams with lowest average possession figures this season.
Köln currently stand at 499 defeats in the Bundesliga and could concede their 500th at Augsburg.
The Billygoats have failed to score more than one goal in any of their last 12 BL games - the last game in which they netted more than one was a 4-0 win at Freiburg back in December.
FCA winger Axel Bellinghausen will rejoin his former club Fortuna Düsseldorf this summer.
Hertha BSC - VfL Wolfsburg
After the first half of the season, Hertha and Wolfsburg had amassed the same number of points (20). Since the turn of the year the Wolves have picked nearly three times as many points as the Berlin-based side (17 as opposed to six).
Wolfsburg have only enjoyed one win in their last 14 BL encounters with Hertha (D5, L8).
The Wolves have only won one of their 13 BL outings at the Olympiastadion (D4, L8).
Freiburg (1.93) are the only current BL side against whom Hertha have, on average, picked up more points per game than against Wolfsburg (1.70). At home Hertha even boast a points-per-game average of 2.15 against Wolves, a better yield than against any other current top-flight side.
The Wolves are unbeaten in four games and have won their last three on the trot - their longest run without defeat since January 2011 when they went eight games unbeaten.
Otto Rehhagel's men have only enjoyed one win in their last nine league games on home soil (D2, L6).
Hertha have only netted a total of three goals in their last six BL games at the Olympiastadion and have failed to score more than once in any of those matches.
VfL have only won one of their last 12 league games on the road (D2, L9) and are bottom of the away table having only picked up eight points away from the VW Arena this term.
Hertha scored more goals in their 3-1 win at Mainz last weekend than in their previous nine league games in 2012 combined (two).
Mario Mandzukic, who is only one goal away from netting for the 50th time in the German top flight, has scored his team's first goal in each of their last two BL outings. The Croatian international has already scored six headed goals this campaign, a joint-league high along with Schalke's Klaas-Jan Huntelaar.
Hannover 96 - Borussia Mönchengladbach
After their 2-1 win over Hannover in this season's reverse fixture, Gladbach leapfrogged 96 in the table and now have a 13-point cushion over the Reds.
Hannover are the only side in the league still unbeaten at home (W7, D6). They suffered their last home defeat in April when they lost 1-0 to Gladbach in the corresponding fixture last season.
Following their 2-1 defeat at Munich last week, Hannover have dropped out of the top seven for the first time this season. If they fail to claim one of the first seven spots at the end of the campaign they would have to win the Europa League to play in Europe next season.
Gladbach and Hannover are the only two teams in the league who haven't lost two games in a row this term. Both sides did lose their respective matches last weekend, however.
Marco Reus has netted the Foals‘ last three league goals against Hannover. Additionally, the German international has been involved in 10 goals since the turn of the year (five goals, five assists) - a yield that only Schalke's Huntelaar can match.
Winter signing Mame Diouf has been directly involved in at least one goal in eight of his 10 matches for Hannover in all competitions. The former Manchester United player has, in total, already registered six goals and three assists for his new club.
Jan Schlaudraff, who has netted more goals against Gladbach (four) than against any other team in the German top flight, signed his first professional contract with Borussia in 2002 and made a total 10 BL appearances for the Foals.
Mirko Slomka has, on average, won 1.48 points per game with Hannover in the Bundesliga, more than any previous Reds manager.
Lucien Favre currently has a points-per-game average of 1.82 with Gladbach in the German top flight - the best average ever posted by a Foals boss in the Bundesliga.
Marc-Andre ter Stegen has saved a league-high 82.4% of the shots on target he has faced and has conceded less than half as many goals (18) as his 96 counterpart Ron-Robert Zieler (38).
1899 Hoffenheim - FC Schalke 04
Hoffenheim have lost none of their three BL home games against Schalke (W1, D2). The Royal Blues won this season's reverse fixture against 1899, however (3-1).
TSG have won none of their last eight games at the Wirsol Rhein-Neckar-Arena, after a run of seven straight home draws, they were beaten 2-1 by Stuttgart in their last game on home soil. This is club's longest-ever winless run in front of their home crowd in the German top flight.
Schalke have lost three of their last four on the road, but celebrated an emphatic win in their last away game when they beat Kaiserslautern 4-1.
Hoffenheim have failed to keep a clean sheet in any of their last nine league games - no other team in the league has currently gone that long without a shut-out. However, 1899 have also netted at least once in each of these nine games, currently the second-longest scoring run (Mainz have netted in each of their last 10 league games).
Both of Schalke's two goals in their 2-0 win over Leverkusen last weekend came from headers. In total the Royal Blues have already netted a league-high 15 headed goals this term.
Only Bayern (66) have scored more goals than Schalke (60). This means that S04 have nearly scored twice as many as their next opponents Hoffenheim (31).
S04 striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar has already netted 22 times in the Bundesliga this season, only Bayern's Gomez has scored more often (23 times). The last Schalke player to score 23 goals in an entire season was former Danish international Ebbe Sand in 2000-01. The only Royal Blue ever to net more goals in a single BL season was Klaus Fischer who posted 24 goals in 1975-76 and 29 goals in 1976-77.
Full-back Chrisitian Fuchs has already registered his seventh assist of the season (against Leverkusen last weekend). The only other defender to provide as many assists this term is Dortmund's Lukasz Piszczek.
S04 goal-keeper Timo Hildebrand plied his trade with Hoffenheim between January 2009 and the summer of 2010, making 38 BL appearances for 1899 in the process. His teammate Chinedu Obasi joined Schalke on loan from Hoffenheim during the winter break.
Isaac Vorsah scored for Hoffenheim in both meetings with Schalke last season and helped his team to win both encounters with the Royal Blues (2-0, 1-0). The Ghanaian international has so far only netted three goals in 91 BL appearances, although two of those three goals came against Schalke.
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