Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Bundesliga Opta Facts - 27-29 January
Hannover 96 - 1. FC Nürnberg
Hannover have won the last two BL duels with Nürnberg, but have never beaten FCN three times in a row in the German top flight.
None of the 31 BL matches between Hannover and Nürnberg have ended in a stalemate.
The Reds have been awarded a penalty in each of their last three league games against Nürnberg, converting all three of them.
Hannover are currently enduring their longest winless run under Mirko Slomka. The Reds are without a win in eight league games (six draws, two defeats).
The Reds‘ stalemate at Hoffenheim last weekend was the fifth draw for them on the bounce - a new club record.
Hannover (four wins and five draws) and Gladbach (seven wins, three draws) are the only two sides in the league still to lose a home game this season.
Nürnberg's last ten league goals have been scored by ten different players. 12 different FCN players have already gotten their name on the score-sheet this season - only reigning champions Dortmund have had more different goal-scorers this term (13).
None of Nürnberg's last eight games have ended in a draw - only Bayern have gone longer without sharing the points (ten games).
The Reds have only netted four goals in their last six BL matches, failing to score more than once in any of those games.
Nürnberg's winter signing Hanno Balitsch plied his trade with Hannover between 2005 and 2010 making 150 BL appearances for the Reds (12 goals). FCN goal-keeper Raphael Schäfer played under current 96 manager Mirko Slomka for Hannover's U19 youth team.
SV Werder Bremen - Bayer 04 Leverkusen
Bremen have lost two and won none of their last seven BL games against Bayer, but managed to beat Leverkusen in the 2009 German Cup final (1-0).
Werder's last win over Bayer in the league came in May 2008 when they beat Leverkusen 1-0 on the road. Bremen's last home win over Bayer dates back to December 2007 (5-2).
Bayer have netted at least once in each of their last 21 league games away at Bremen. The last time Werder kept a clean sheet at home against Bayer was back in November 1989 (0-0).
Thomas Schaaf's men have won eight of their last nine BL games at Weserstadion (one defeat) including the last three in a row.
Bayer are undefeated in their last five league games away from home (two wins, three draws), keeping three clean sheets in the process.
Werder have recouped more points from losing positions than any other team in the league (16), while only Bayern (none) have dropped fewer points from winning positions than the Green-Whites (two).
Leverkusen striker Eren Derdiyok has netted a goal in three of Bayer's last four BL games against Werder with all these three matches ending in a 2-2 score-line.
Thomas Schaaf has won four of the five BL encounters with his counterpart Robin Dutt. Dutt also suffered his heaviest defeat as a BL manager against Schaaf (0-6).
Bremen striker Claudio Pizarro and Bayer midfielder Michael Ballack were teammates at FC Bayern between 2002 and 2006 where they won three BL titles and one German Cup together. They were reunited when they both plied their trade with Chelsea in 2007.
Peruvian forward Claudio Pizarro has been directly involved in 17 of Werder's last 21 league goals (11 goals, six assists).
Hertha BSC - Hamburger SV
Hamburg have won two and lost none of the last four BL games against Hertha.
In this season's first meeting between the two sides that ended in a 2-2 draw, Hertha were denied by the woodwork three times.
The Berlin-based side suffered their heaviest defeat in the Bundesliga against Hamburg when they received a 6-0 drubbing from the hands of the Redshorts in April 1980.
Hertha have only won one of their last 24 top-flight home games (nine draws, 13 defeats).
Only once in the last 19 seasons have Hamburg had fewer points after 18 games than they have this campaign (19) - in 2006/07 they had only registered 14 points after the same number of games, but managed to finish that season in seventh place.
Following Lucien Favre, Friedhelm Funkel and Markus Babbel, Michael Skibbe has become the fourth successive Hertha manager to lose his first BL game in charge of the Old Lady.
HSV top-scorers Paolo Guerrero (five goals) and Mladen Petric (four goals) have yet to find the back of the net away from Imtech Arena this season.
Only Juan Arango (Gladbach, seven) has provided more assists this term than Raffael (Hertha, six) and Gökhan Töre (Hamburg, six). Both Raffael (suspended) and Töre (injured) will not be available for the game, though.
Both Jaroslav Drobny (2007-2010) and Gojko Kacar (2008-2010) were in the Hertha side that suffered relegation in 2010 and joined Hamburg following the Berlin-based side's drop to Bundesliga 2.
Two former HSV players are currently wearing the Hertha shirt. Änis Ben-Hatira and Hamburg-born Tunay Torun both joined the Old Lady this summer.
FC Augsburg 1. FC Kaiserslautern
The last two competitive matches between the two sides saw Augsburg open the scoring, but both ended in a 1-1 score-line.
None of the nine matches between Augsburg and Lautern in all competitions have seen the visiting side prevail (five wins for the respective home team, four draws).
Each of the Red Devils' last four league games has seen them share the spoils. They have never registered five draws on the trot in the Bundesliga.
Augsburg have so far only registered two home wins in the Bundesliga. These two wins have come in their last two games at SGL Arena, however (2-0 against Wolves and 1-0 against Gladbach).
This game will see the side with the fewest goals scored (Kaiserslautern, 13) take on the team with second-fewest goals netted this term (Augsburg, 15).
FCA have only won one of their so far nine games against the teams from the current bottom half of the table (four draws, four defeats).
Augsburg and Lautern are the only two sides in the league to have chalked up fewer than four wins this term (three each).
Augsburg are bottom of the league for the fifth time this season, but have enjoyed two of their three wins this season when they started the match-day in 18th place.
The Red Devils have conceded exactly one goal in each of their last eight league games on the road - a first for any team in BL history.
FCA manager Jos Luhukay has never lost a competitive match against his counterpart Marco Kurz (one win, four draws).
Borussia Dortmund - 1899 Hoffenheim
Borussia have only enjoyed one win in their seven BL games against Hoffenheim (three draws, three defeats).
Last season Hoffenheim were the only side in the league that remained unbeaten against champions Dortmund (1-1 A, 1-0 H).
All of Dortmund's three BL home games against Hoffenheim have seen the two sides share the points. Borussia's only home win over 1899 came in February 2008 in the German Cup (3-1) when Hoffenheim still played in Bundesliga 2.
Jürgen Klopp's men are unbeaten in 12 league games (nine wins, three draws) - currently the longest run of its kind in the German top flight.
Dortmund have won 18 and lost only one of their last 24 BL games at Signal Iduna Park.
Only Bayern (44) and Schalke (41) have netted more goals this term than Dortmund (40), while only Gladbach (12) have conceded fewer goals than BVB (13). Borussia have scored at least once in each of their last 14 BL games - currently the longest run of its kind in the Bundesliga.
Hoffenheim have gone three games without defeat for the first time under manager Holger Stanislawski (one win , two draws) and have kept two clean sheets in their last three league games.
Robert Lewandowski has netted a brace in each of his last two BL appearances. Together with Bayern's Mario Gomez the Polish striker (14 goals, six assists) leads the league in terms of scorer points.
Shinji Kagawa has the best points per game average of all players who have made at least 34 appearances (34 games equal one BL season) in the Bundesliga. The Japanese Midfielder has won an average of 2.27 points per game with Dortmund in the German top flight.
Vedad Ibisevic has netted more goals against Dortmund than against any other BL team (five in five appearances). Additionally, the Bosnian striker has netted five of his club's last seven league goals.
FC Bayern München - VfL Wolfsburg
The Wolves' last win over Bayern came in April 2009 when they inflicted a 5-1 drubbing on the record champions. Since that emphatic win Wolfsburg have lost four and won none of their five BL duels with FCB.
The Wolves were unlucky to lose this season's first meeting with Bayern in August when they had a goal wrongly ruled out for offside shortly before the break and then went on to concede the only goal of the match deep into injury-time.
Wolfsburg have only taken one out of the possible 42 points from their so far 14 BL outings at Bayern.
Munich only won 34.3% of their duels in their 3-1 defeat to Gladbach last weekend - their worst duel success rate in a BL match since the beginning of detailed data collection in 2006/07.
Wolfsburg have lost seven and won none of their last eight BL games on the road.
VfL manager Felix Magath has equalled a BL record by fielding his 35th different player of the season last weekend. Bayern have only used 20 different players this term - a joint league-low.
38% (five out of 13) of the goals Bayern have conceded this term have come from outside the box - the highest proportion in the top flight.
Five of the Wolves eight winter signings featured in their 1-0 win over Köln last weekend. New left-back Ricardo Rodriguez even registered the most touches of all VfL players in that game (84).
Wolfsburg's last two goals in their 1-0 wins over Stuttgart and Köln were both scored by Sebastian Polter. The young striker came on as a sub in both matches and netted the decisive goal in the 74th and 78th minute respectively.
Current Wolves manager Felix Magath was in charge of Bayern between 2004 and January 2007, winning two BL titles and two German Cups with the record champions. Magath has still got the best points per game average of any Bayern manager in BL history (2.14).
1. FC Köln - FC Schalke 04
Köln have lost five of the last six BL meetings with Schalke but won the corresponding fixture at RheinEnergieStadion last season (2-1).
S04 have taken more points from the last nine games than any other team in the league (22) - one point more than Köln have won all season.
Goals all but guaranteed: Schalke's BL games have seen more goals than the matches of any other team this term (64), while Köln are a close second in that category (63).
This match will see the two sides with the best chance conversion rates in the league take each other on. Köln have found the back of the net with 22.9% of their unblocked attempts this term, while Schalke have scored with 20.9% of their shots.
Schalke and Köln have each netted a league-high eight goals following counter-attacks.
S04 have already registered 10 headed goals this term - a divisional high. Köln have only scored with one header this season - a joint league-low.
Schalke will miss their best duellist in Benedikt Höwedes (59.3% duel success) due to a cheekbone fracture.
Dutch striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar has scored 11 goals in his last 11 BL appearances.
Only Mario Gomez (Bayern, 16 goals) has netted more goals this term than Klaas-Jan Huntelaar (Schalke 15 goals) and Lukas Podolski (Köln, 14 goals).
Schalke general manager Horst Heldt made 130 BL appearances (13 goals) for Köln between 1990 and 1995.
FSV Mainz 05 - SC Freiburg
Freiburg have only taken one point from their three BL away games at Mainz, scoring only one goal in the process.
SCF have never managed to score more than one goal in a top-flight match against Mainz.
Mainz have gone five games without a win (three draws, two defeats) and have lost the last two games on the bounce (1-0 at Gladbach and 3-2 at Leverkusen).
Freiburg have only won one of their last nine BL games on the road (two draws, six defeats).
Freiburg haven't enjoyed two consecutive wins in the Bundesliga since December 2010.
Mainz have already netted four own goals this campaign and are now only one own goal away from equalling the BL record for the most own goals in a single season.
SCF have conceded an average of three goals per game in their last nine BL away matches (27).
The game between Mainz and Freiburg could see two brothers take each other on. Marco Caliguri plies his trade with Mainz while his brother Daniel Caliguri is under contract at Mainz.
Matthias Ginter scored on his BL debut against Augsburg last week and, at the age of 18 years and two days, became the youngest SCF player to score in the Bundesliga.
SCF goal-keeper Oliver Baumann is set to make his 50th BL appearance. The young shot-stopper currently has the worst saves-to-shots ratio of all first-choice goal-keepers in the Bundesliga (58.9%).
VfB Stuttgart - Borussia Mönchengladbach
Stuttgart have won seven and lost none of their last 11 BL outings against Gladbach. Their last defeat against the Foals came over seven years ago when they lost 2-0 at Borussia Park.
Last season Gladbach suffered their worst ever away defeat in the Bundesliga when Stuttgart inflicted a 7-0 drubbing on the Foals.
VfB have lost the last three league games on the trot and have only taken one point from the last five games - fewer than any other team in the top flight.
The Swabians have currently gone longer without a clean sheet than any other team in the league (nine games).
The Foals have won six and lost only one of their last eight BL games. Only Schalke have taken as many points from the last eight games as Gladbach (19 each).
Borussia have conceded the fewest goals so far this term (12). Only seven teams in the last 48 BL seasons have managed to concede fewer goals after 18 games.
The Foals have already accrued as many points this term as they managed in the whole of last season (36).
Gladbach defender Martin Stranzl joined Stuttgart from 1860 Munich in 2004 and made 44 BL appearances for the Swabians before he signed for Spartak Moscow in 2006.
Juan Arango has been involved in more goal attempts this season than any other player in the league (50 shots, 50 chances created). His teammate Marco Reus is a close second in that category (99).
Additionally Arango has assisted more goals than any other player in the Bundesliga this term (seven).
26.01. (Thu) 20:00 Ivory Coast - Burkina Faso
| PROBABLE LINEUPS |
COTE D'IVOIRE  Barry Lolo, K Toure, Bamba, Tiene Gosso, Y Toure, Tiote Kalou, Drogba, Gervinho | BURKINA FASO  Diakite Tall, Koulibaly, B Kone D Kone, Koffi, Rouamba, Kabore, A Traore Pitroipa, Dagano |
This time around, the Elephants have already tasted victory in their first match against Sudan with the Chelsea forward getting the lone goal with a header. The Stallions, on the other hand, lost their opening encounter 2-1 to Angola due in a big part to poor defending.
Paulo Duarte’s men know that another loss in this game will see his team exit the tournament, another first round implosion that will hardly do their country’s image any good after “school boy errors” in their opening game, according to the trainer.
To remain in the competition, the Stallions will need to tighten their defence against the marauding Ivorian attack that consists of highly rated Drogba and Chelsea team-mate Salomon Kalou as well as Arsenal’s Gervinho. The Burkinabe have their work cut out for them having already lost midfielder Abdou Razak Traore due to passport problems.
Though the Elephants might have played below par in their opening game against Sudan, they will surely look to get better as the competition progresses and Francois Zahoui’s men will present a tough challenge for their west African neighbours.
| DID YOU KNOW? |
Ever since their fourth place finish at the 1998 Afcon which they hosted, Burkina Faso have not made it past the first round in four appearances.
- As Africa’s best team at the moment (18th overall), Cote d’Ivoire rank 48 places above their opponents, who are number 66 on the Fifa rankings.
- Burkina Faso midfielders Djakaridja Kone and Abdou Razak Traore were both born in Abidjan, the Ivorian capital.
- There will be three players from English side Chelsea when the teams line up on Wednesday. The better known Drogba and Kalou as well as young Burkinabe midfielder Bertrand Traore, who at 16, is the youngest outfield player in the competition.
- Didier Drogba’s goal against Sudan was his 52nd international strike and he will have the opportunity of increasing his haul in this game.
The Elephants are expected to continue in their stride and nick this tight encounter against their neighbours.
Editor's Prediction
Cote d'Ivoire 2-0 Burkina Faso 
26.01. (Thu) 17:00 Sudan - Angola
Getty Images
| PROBABLE LINEUPS |
ANGOLA  Carlos Zuela, Dany, Mingo Bile, Andre Macanga Dédé, Gilberto, Miguel Quiame, Mateus Djalma, Manucho | SUDAN  Mohjob Khaliefa, Al Basha, Massawi, Mosab Badreldien, Hamed, Kamal, Yousif Mudather, Agab |
The Palancas Negras want to make up for their painful quarter-final finish at the 2010 edition, which they hosted. Lito Vidigal wants his stars to go beyond their best quarter-final finishes in the 2008 and 2010 editions. Angola have...
The Sudanese come into this game with a 1-0 loss against Cote d'Ivoire under their belt, but the east Africans can take solace from the fact that they played a solid and determined defensive game against the tournament favourites, and may have been unlucky not to come away from the match with more than a narrow loss.
Unlike the other teams at this tournament, Sudan are the only ones drawing players exclusively from their domestic league as they look to replicate the form that saw their team progress to the semi-finals of the 2011 Africa Championship of Nations (Chan), which they hosted last January.
| DID YOU KNOW? |
Sudan have won the Afcon title once before, in 1970.
- Sudan have not progressed past the first round in three attempts since their 1970 victory.
- The Falcons of Jediane are the only team at the 2012 Afcon representing east Africa.
- Sudan have never qualified for a World Cup.
- Angola hosted the previous Africa Cup of Nations tournament in 2010, with Egypt taking their third title in a row in the final match.
- Angola reached the 2012 finals by winning their qualification pool on the final day of matches.
- The their nickname, the Palancas Negras, means Black Antelopes.
- Angola qualified for the 2006 World Cup that was held in Germany, but the team did not progress past the group stages.
Prediction
The Palancas Negras are on a high after their win against Burkina Faso, and they will be aiming to secure qualification in this match.
Editor's Prediction
Sudan 1-2 Angola 
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
25.01. (Wed) 22:00 Barcelona - Real
Getty
| PROBABLE LINE-UPS |
BARCELONA  Pinto Alves, Pique, Puyol, Abidal Xavi, Busquets, Iniesta Messi, Cesc, Sanchez | REAL MADRID  Casillas Arbeloa, Ramos, Varane, Marcelo Diarra, Xabi Alonso, Coentrao Higuain, Benzema, Ronaldo |
Barcelona will be without Seydou Keita, who is away on African Cup of Nations duty with Mali. Pep Guardiola's side also have three players who have long-term injuries; Ibrahim Afellay and Andreu Fontas are both out with ligament injuries, while David Villa is sidelined for the foreseeable future with a broken leg.
Pedro returned from injury to feature in the 4-1 victory over Malaga at the weekend, but it is unlikely the Spaniard will oust Cesc Fabregas, Lionel Messi, or Alexis Sanchez from Guardiola's preferred front three.
Jose Mourinho's visitors go into the match with a 2-1 deficit from the first leg but the Real Madrid coach could opt for the same formation, with three midfielders and three attackers, albeit with a more positive gameplan than in the first match.
Pepe was left out of the squad for the victory over Athletic Bilbao because of a suspected calf injury and did not train on Monday so it is unlikely that the Portugal international will be fit. There are suspicions that Mourinho may be removing the defender from the limelight for a short period, after the outcry against his cynical stamp on Messi in Wednesday's first leg.
Lassana Diarra and Esteban Granero did not train on Monday either, but it is likely the former will be fit enough to come into the three-man midfield. Sergio Ramos also missed the session, but this was due to personal reasons and he is expected to play. Sami Khedira is unavailable, though, after being ruled out for a month with an ankle injury.
| DID YOU KNOW? |
- Barcelona go into the match with a 2-1 advantage over Real Madrid from the first
leg. Carles Puyol and Eric Abidal scored to cancel out Cristiano Ronaldo's early strike and seal the win at the Santiago Bernabeu last Wednesday.
- Barcelona maestro Xavi will equal Joan Segarra's record of 31 Clasico appearances for the Catalan side if he plays in this match.
- Lionel Messi equalled Cesar's record for the most league goals scored in the first half of a season for Barca at the weekend. The Argentine netted a hat-trick to take his tally so far to 22 goals in La Liga.
- Cristiano Ronaldo is currently one goal ahead of Lionel Messi in the race for Pichichi award in La Liga.
- Iker Casillas made his 600th appearance for Los Blancos in the 4-1 weekend win over Athletic Bilbao.
- This is the 10th time that Barcelona have faced Real Madrid in just over a year.
The fifth Clasico in all competitions this season, and the tie is in the hands of Barcelona. Pep Guardiola's men hold a 2-1 advantage over Real Madrid thanks to the vital win at Santiago Bernabeu last week and it will take a momentous effort from Jose Mourinho's men to overcome the deficit.
Editor's Prediction
Barcelona 2-1 Real Madrid 
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