Friday, April 6, 2012

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07.04. (Sat) 15:30 Bayern Munchen - Augsburg

Bundesliga: FC Augsburg - FC Bayern München, Mario Gomez, Thomas Müller, Franck Ribery
Getty Images


PROBABLE LINEUPS


BAYERN MUNICH



Neuer
Lahm, Boateng, Badstuber, Alaba

Tymoshchuk, Schweinsteiger
Robben, Muller, Ribery

Gomez



AUGSBURG


Jentzsch
Verhaegh, Sankoh, Langkamp, Ostrzolek
 Baier, Hosogai
Ndjeng, Koo, Bellinghausen
Rafael
 

Bayern coach Jupp Heynckes will welcome Bastian Schweinsteiger back into his starting XI after the midfielder missed out on the 2-0 win against Marseille in midweek. Anatoliy Tymoshchuk is tipped to partner the vice-captain in defensive midfield as Luiz Gustavo is banned for accumulated bookings.

However, the trainer could opt to use Toni Kroos in a holding role as well. Aside from Gustavo, Bayern will be without long-term casualty Daniel van Buyten, as well as Breno, who is not expected to play another game for the Munich side.

Augsburg are expected to use the same line-up as in last week's 2-1 win over Koln, with Nando Rafael retaining his spot in the centre of attack. Torsten Oehrl remains sidelined with a muscular injury, and will join Marcel de Jong, Dawda Bah and Akaki Gogia in the stands.

DID YOU KNOW?

  • Bayern Munich have won eight consecutive games (including their DFB-Pokal semi-final penalty shoot-out victory), scoring 27 goals and conceding just twice in the process.
  • The German record champions have the Bundesliga's best record on home soil, having earned 36 points at the Allianz Arena.
  • In his last seven appearances in all competitions, Arjen Robben has scored nine goals and assisted five more.
  • Augsburg have climbed out of the relegation zone in recent weeks, having gone undefeated in six games with three wins during their run of form.
  • FCA are in their best-ever position in the Bundesliga, four points clear of the relegation zone.
  • Both of Saturday's Bavarian contestants were last defeated by Leverkusen.
Prediction
Bayern are hammering just about every opponent they face these days, especially at home. FCA have proven in the past that they are capable of a fight, and will be motivated to prove their worthiness of a second consecutive season in the German top flight. But they will have to scrap for points another day.
Editor's Prediction
Bayern 3-0 FC Augsburg

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07.04. (Sat) 15:30 Wolfsburg - Borussia D.

German Bundesliga: Hertha BSC - VfL Wolfsburg, Mario Mandzukic, Patrick Helmes
Bongarts


PROBABLE LINEUPS

WOLFSBURG



Benaglio
Trasch, Russ, Felipe Lopes, Rodriguez

Dejagah, Josue, Polak, Schafer
Helmes, Mandzukic



DORTMUND


Weidenfeller
Piszczek, Hummels, Subotic, Schmelzer
Bender, Gundogan
Kuba, Kagawa, Grosskreutz
Lewandowski
 

Wolfsburg are expected to name an unchanged side from the one that beat Hertha Berlin 4-1 in the German capital last week, with Josue retaining his place above Petr Jiracek, and Patrick Helmes starting up front alongside Mario Mandzukic.

Chris and Bjarne Thoelke will be missing at the back due to a thigh and tendon problems respectively, while Thomas Hitzlsperger and Slobodan Medojevic remain sidelined.

Jurgen Klopp is set to make one change from the team that drew 4-4 with Stuttgart last Friday. After another good performance, Ilkay Gundogan should retain his place in midfield ahead of Sebastian Kehl, who will make way for Sven Bender, who is back to full fitness.

Meanwhile, Mario Gotze is expected to make his long-awaited comeback this week-end, but only for the club's reserve ranks, and will accordingly miss the Wolfsburg clash. Felipe Santana remains sidelined, as does Julian Koch, who returned to training this week for the first time in over a year.

DID YOU KNOW?

  • Wolfsburg have won all of their last four league games, scoring 12 goals in the process.
  • However, Felix Magath's side have kept just six clean sheets in their 28 Bundesliga matches this season.
  • Patrick Helmes has scored six goals in his last six games.
  • Borussia Dortmund are currently in the midst of a 22-game unbeaten run in the league - the longest in the club's history.
  • Shinji Kagawa (right) has scored nine goals in his last 11 matches.
  • Jurgen Klopp's side picked up a 5-1 victory over Wolfsburg on Matchday 12.
Prediction
When push comes to shove, Borussia Dortmund have not failed to deliver in the Bundesliga this season. Klopp's men will be well-aware that they cannot afford any more slip-ups this season, and with Bayern Munich breathing down their necks, I'd expect them to perform and come out on top.
Editor's Prediction
Wolfsburg 1-2 Dortmund

Bundesliga Opta Facts - 7th - 9th April


Bayern München - Augsburg
For the first time in their short BL history Augsburg are four points above the relegation zone.
This game will see the team with the best home record (Bayern, 36 points) take on the team with worst away record (Augsburg, nine points).
Bayern (60) have won twice as many points as Augsburg (30) so far this term.
FCB are unbeaten in eight games in all competitions, winning seven and prevailing in the other on penalties in the semi-finals of the German Cup.
Augsburg have gone six games without defeat (W3, D3), their longest-ever unbeaten run in the German top flight.
Both sides suffered their last defeat in the league against Bayer Leverkusen.
Bayern have conceded the fewest (18) and scored the most goals (67), while only Lautern (17) and Nürnberg (25) have netted fewer than Augsburg (30) this term.
FCA have already picked up 15 points since the turn of the year, as many as they had won in the entire first half of the season.
Bayern have won their last seven league games at Allianz Arena and have scored at least twice in each of these games.
Arjen Robben has scored nine and assisted five goals in his last seven appearances in all competitions.

Kaiserslautern - Hoffenheim
Hoffenheim have won three and lost none of their five meetings with Lautern in all competitions.
FCK have won none of their last 18 league games (D9, L9); a first in the club's long BL history.
The Red Devils have failed to find the back of the net in 15 of their so far 28 league games this term and have only scored in three of their 11 BL matches in 2012.
FCK are eight points adrift of the playoff-spot. Never before in BL history has a relegation threatened team overcome such a big deficit with only six games (or less) to go.
There has also never been a team that has managed to retain its top-flight status despite having only picked up 20 points after 28 games.
Hoffenheim and Lautern are both enduring their worst-ever BL season so far. Lautern have picked up fewer points than ever before after 28 games of a BL season while Hoffenheim have only enjoyed eight wins so far this term - their worst-ever tally at this point of the season.
Only Tasmania Berlin (1965-66, 11 goals) have netted fewer goals after 28 games of a BL season than Lautern have this campaign (17 goals).
Hoffenheim have scored at least once in each of their last 10 BL games, only Mainz have currently gone longer without being shut out in the league (11 games).
1899 have failed to shut their opponents out in any of their last 11 games in all competitons - currently the longest run of its kind in the Bundesliga.
Lautern will miss Olcay Sahan due to a yellow-card suspension, while Hoffenheim will be without Sebastian Rudy who also picked up his fifth booking of the season last weekend.

Freiburg - Nürnberg
Since regaining their top-flight status in 2009 Freiburg have won four and lost none of their five league encounters with Nürnberg.
Nürnberg's last win over Freiburg in the Bundesliga came in March 2005 when FCN beat SCF 3-2 on the road.
Nürnberg have only averaged 0.92 points per game against Freiburg in the Bundesliga, only against Bayern, Hamburg und Hoffenheim have FCN a worse points-per-game average in the top flight.
Freiburg have taken 13 points from their last five league games, a feat only Wolfsburg can match. This is Freiburg's best run of form since January 2001.
Dieter Hecking's men have lost their last four league games on the trot, something that last happened to them in December 2010.
Freiburg have won three and lost none of their last five league games on home soil, their longest unbeaten run at home since February 2011.
Freiburg have only shipped two goals in their last five league games, fewer than any other team in the Bundesliga during that period. Only Bayern (six) have kept more clean sheets since the turn of the year than SCF (five).
FCN have currently gone 261 minutes without scoring in the Bundesliga and have failed to find the back of their opponents‘ net in five of their last 10 league games.
Freiburg have won all five home games in which they've opened the scoring, while Nürnberg have taken a full three-point haul from each of their four away games in which they have scored the first goal of the match.
FCN will have to replace centre-back Philipp Wollscheid who will miss the game due to yellow-card suspension. Wollscheid has posted a duel success rate of 71.2% so far this campaign, currently the highest ratio in the league.

Stuttgart - Mainz
Mainz have only enjoyed two victories in 11 BL encounters with Stuttgart (D3, L6), but won this season's reverse fixture 3-1.
Stuttgart are unbeaten against Mainz on home soil in the Bundesliga (W4, D1).
The match at Stuttgart will be the 100th BL game on the road for FSV. With a win at Mercedes-Benz Arena Mainz could also pick up their 100th point away from home in the German top flight.
Mainz played their first-ever BL game against Stuttgart when they were beaten 4-2 by the Swabians on the road in August 2004.
Bruno Labbadia's side have gone six league games without defeat (W4, D2), their longest unbeaten run Since May 2010.
Stuttgart have taken 10 out of the available 12 points from their last four BL games in front of their home crowd, scoring 10 and conceding only one goal in the process.
Stuttgart have a tough a run-in and only picked up four points from the reverse fixtures against their upcoming six opponents during the first half of the season.
Mainz are the only side in the league to score in all their 11 league games in 2012, this is their longest run without being shut out since they scored in each of their first 12 games in their BL debut season 2004-05.
Since his winter move to Stuttgart Vedad Ibisevic has registered more goal involvements (nine, five goals, four assists) than in the entire first half of the season which he spent at Hoffenheim (five, five goals).
Chuopo-Moting has already chalked up 10 goals in 28 league games this term, more than he netted in his entire previous career (48 games, seven goals).

Köln - Bremen
Köln have netted more goals against Bremen than against any other team in the Bndesliga (145) and only against Stuttgart (33) have the Billygoats enjoyed more wins in the German top flight than against Werder (32).
Werder have won 11 and lost only two of their last 16 league encounters with Köln, though.
Stale Solbakken's men have lost four of their five home games in 2012 (W1).
Bremen have only enjoyed one win in their last six BL games (D1, L4), when they beat Hannover 3-0 in mid-March.
Köln currently have the worst defensive record in the league (58 goals conceded). Only once in their BL history have the Billygoats shipped more goals after 28 games of a BL season: in 2005-06 they had allowed 60 goals at that point of the season and suffered releagtion at the end of the campaign.
Köln have attempted the fewest (243) and faced the most shots (453) in the league so far this term.
The Billygoats have failed to score more than once in any of their last 13 BL games. The last game in which they registered more than one goal was a 4-0 win over Freiburg in December.
Lukas Podolski has netted 49% (17 out of 35) of the Billygoats‘ league goals this term, no other player in the league has scored such a high proportion of his team's goals. Claudio Pizarro, who has scored 39% (16 out of 41) of Werder's league goals, is second in that ranking.
Lukas Podolski has scored four goals in his last three appearances against Bremen.
Claudio Pizarro netted a hat-trick in this season's reverse fixture against Köln.

Wolfsburg - Dortmund
Only against Bayern (22) have Wolfsburg suffered more defeats in the Bundesliga than against Dortmund (16).
The Wolves have lost four of their last five league encounters with Dortmund (D1) including the last three in a row.
Dortmund haven't allowed Wolfsburg more than one goal in any of last five clashes between the sides.
The Wolves‘ last win over Dortmund came over three years ago when they beat BVB 3-0 at Volkswagen Arena thanks to goals by Edin Dzeko, who scored a brace that day, and Grafite.
Dortmund are unbeaten in 22 BL games (W17, D5), their longest-ever run without defeat in the German top flight.
BVB have also set a new club record by going 11 away games without defeat.
Wolfsburg have picked up 13 points from their last five games, a yield only Freiburg can match.
VfL have only suffered one defeat in their last nine league games at VW Arena (W6, D2).
Dortmund's Polish internationals Lewandowski, Blaszczykowski and Piszczek have been directly involved in 63% of Borussia's league goals this term.
VfL strikers Patrick Helmes and Mario Mandzukic have netted seven of the Wolves‘ last nine goals in the Bundesliga.

Gladbach - Hertha
Since winning both meetings with Gladbach in 2008-09, Hertha have gone four games in all competitions against Gladbach without a victory (D1, L3).
The Foals have already beaten Hertha twice this campaign, they won the reverse fixture at Olympiastadion 2-1 and eliminated Hertha in the quarter-finals of the German Cup when they overcame the Berlin-based side 2-0 a.e.t. Gladbach have never managed to win three competitive matches against Hertha in one season, though.
Gladbach have lost their last two league games on the bounce, something that has happened to them only once before under the tutelage of Lucien Favre (March/April 2011).
Under new manager Otto Rehhagel Hertha are yet to register a draw. So far they have won two and lost four of the six games since the 73-year-old took charge of the club.
Borussia have won none of their last three games at Borussia Park. After two consecutive home draws they lost their last BL game on home soil 2-1 against Hoffenheim - it was the Foals first home defeat of the season.
Hertha have gone 16 BL games on the road without a clean sheet. The last BL away game in which they shut their opponents out was a 3-0 win at Köln in April 2010.
Hertha gaffer Otto Rehhagel lost 12-0 away at Gladbach when he was in charge of Borussia Dortmund in April 1978 - still the heaviest defeat suffered by any team in the German top flight.
Gladbach manager Lucien Favre was at the helm in Berlin between July 2007 and September 2009.
The Foals have gone 13 league games without conceding a first-half goal.
Hertha have lost nine of their last 11 BL games (W2).

Schalke - Hannover
Schalke would secure a place in Europe next season if they beat Hannover. The Royal Blues only need two wins from their last six games to make sure they finish in the top four.
Schalke have won nine and lost only two (D2) of their 13 league games after a midweek Europa League fixture, while Hannover have won six and lost two (D5) of their 13 BL matches after playing in European competition midweek.
S04 have only lost one home game against Hannover in all competitions in the last nine years (eight wins, two draws), that defeat came in their last match against the Reds at Veltins Arena, though (1-2).
The Royal Blues have enjoyed eight wins in their last nine BL games on home soil (D1), scoring an average of three goals per game and keeping four clean sheets in the process.
Hannover have lost their last three BL games on the road.
Only relegation battlers Kaiserslautern and Augsburg (nine each) have picked up fewer points away from home than Hannover this season (11).
Schalke have netted more second-half goals (39) than Hannover have managed in the full 90 minutes of their so far 28 games this term.
Having already netted 23 goals this term, Klaas-Jan Huntelaar is tied for the lead in the BL scorer charts with Bayern's Mario Gomez. The S04 striker is only the second Dutchman after Roy Makaay, who netted 23 times in 2003/04, to score 23 goals in a single BL season.
Hannover's winter signing Mame Diouf has so far posted an average of one goal involvement per BL game. The former Man Utd player has scored five and assisted three goals in eight BL appearances for the Reds.
96 midfielder Sergio Pinto started his career in professional football with Schalke. He made his BL debut for the Royal Blues in September 1999 when current S04 manager Huub Stevens was in his first stint with the Miners.

Hamburg - Leverkusen
Bayer have won two and lost none of their last five league encounters with Hamburg.
Sami Hyypiä ended his active career with a 1-1 draw at BayArena against HSV on the penultimate day last season. Now the former Liverpool player will make his debut as a manager in the Bundesliga after he has taken charge of Bayer this week in the wake of Robin Dutt's sacking last weekend.
Bayer have lost their last four BL games on the spin, something that last happened to them nine years ago.
If Leverkusen lose at Hamburg they would equal the club's negative BL record of five consecutive defeats set in 2002-03.
Hamburg are currently bottom of the BL home table (11 points, 17-28 goals). The last 13 BL seasons all have all seen the worst home team being relegated, the last side that managed to stay up with the worst home record in the league was Hamburg in 1997-98.
B04 have only enjoyed one win in their last seven games away from BayArena (D3, L3) and have lost the last two on the road. The last time Leverkusen suffered three consecutive defeats on their travels came over two years ago.
Bayer have won none and lost nine of the last 14 league games that their skipper Simon Rolfes has started (D5, L9), including the last five in a row.
The Redshorts‘ last eight goals have been scored by eight different players.
The recently sacked Robin Dutt had the worst points-per-game average of any Bayer manager to have stayed in charge of Leverkusen for at least half a season in the last 16 years (1.43). The last B04 gaffer to have averaged fewer points per game in the German top flight was Erich Ribbeck who was at the helm in Leverkusen between April 1995 and June 1996 (1.34).
After a run of six winless games and four defeats on the trot, Hamburg enjoyed a full three-point haul for the first time since mid-February thanks to their 1-0 win at Kaiserslautern last weekend.

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07.04. (Sat) 15:00 AC Milan - Fiorentina

Ignazio Abate (M), Alberto Gilardino (F) - Fiorentina-Milan - Serie A (Getty Images)
Getty Images

PROBABLE LINEUPS
AC MILAN

Abbiati

Abate, Bonera, Mexes, Antonini
Aquilani, Muntari, Nocerino
Emanuelson
Ibrahimovic, Robinho
FIORENTINA

Boruc
Cassani, Natali, Nastasic, Pasqual
Marchionni, Behrami, Olivera, Vargas
Lazzari
Jovetic

Massimiliano Allegri will again have to make do without the services of Mark van Bommel, Thiago Silva, Filippo Inzaghi, Rodney Strasser, Flavio Roma and Mathieu Flamini, while Alexandre Pato is out for the rest of the season due to a troublesome muscle injury.

However, that should not deter the 44-year-old from making changes to his team, as three are expected to be made from the side that was defeated 3-1 by Barcelona in the Champions League on Tuesday.

Alberto Aquilani, Sulley Muntari and Urby Emanuelson look set to replace Clarence Seedorf, Massimo Ambrosini and Kevin-Prince Boateng for the visit of Fiorentina.

Viola, meanwhile, have seen themselves tumble down the table at an alarming pace, following a wretched run of form of late. Nonetheless, widespread alterations are not expected from under-fire coach Delio Rossi.

Amauri requires a late fitness test, while Riccardo Montolivo is suspended, so Andrea Lazzari and Ruben Olivera will come into the fold as their replacements. Alessandro Gamberini is also sidelined with injury, so Cesare Natali is set to start against the Rossoneri.

DID YOU KNOW?

  • The draw in the reverse fixture ended a run of seven straight wins for AC Milan against Fiorentina.
  • The Rossoneri boast Serie A's best attack with 60 goals - 22 of these have been netted by Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
  • AC Milan have won nine of the 10 games in which they have been leading at home.
  • Their only defeat at San Siro in the league this season was in the derby against Inter.
  • Over the past decade, Fiorentina have managed to beat AC Milan in the league just once - a 3-1 win at the Artemio Franchi in November 2005.
  • The Viola's last victory at San Siro was back in 2001, with Enrico Chiesa scoring a double in a 2-1 win.
  • Fiorentina would be 18th in the Serie A standings if only the last 10 games were taken into consideration.
  • They have won just one match away from home this season, against Novara.
Prediction
Fiorentina's woes look set to continue for another week it seems as Milan should have no problems in disposing of the Viola, who have won just one of their past nine matches, including six defeats. The Rossoneri also have added impetus after two poor results against Catania and Barcelona, but have more than enough in their locker to earn a comfortable victory on Saturday.
Editor's Prediction
Milan 3-0 Fiorentina

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07.04. (Sat) 15:00 Cagliari - Inter

Inter celebrating
Getty Images

PROBABLE LINE-UPS

CAGLIARI


Agazzi
Pisano, Astori, Canini, Agostini
Ekdal, Conti, Nainggolan
Cossu
Thiago Ribeiro, Pinilla
INTER



Castellazzi
Nagatomo, Ranocchia, Samuel, Zanetti
Poli, Cambiasso, Stankovic
Zarate, Milito, Forlan

Cagliari coach Massimo Ficcadenti will be unable to call on Daniele Dessena who is out for the season, while Rui Sampaio will also miss the encounter, but Davide Astori is ready to return to the fold.

Saturday's match will be played in Trieste because the Stadio Sant'Elia is unavailable due to a dispute between the club and the city's local council over renovation work at the stadium.

Meanwhile, Inter boss Andrea Stramaccioni will once again be without the services of influential duo Maicon and Wesley Sneijder, who are nursing knee and groin injuries respectively. Luc Castaignos will also miss out on Saturday's festivities due to a thigh problem.


Veteran goalkeeper Luca Castellazzi will deputise for Julio Cesar who picked up a red card last weekend against Genoa, while Lucio is also suspended. Ricky Alvarez is nearing a return but is not yet ready to rejoin the first team.


DID YOU KNOW?
  • Cagliari have won four out of their last five matches at home, outscoring their opponents 12-5 in the process.
  • The Sardinians have kept two clean sheets in their last three encounters.
  • Ficcadenti's men have failed to score in 14 of their 30 Serie A matches this season.
  • Inter have lost four out of their last five Serie A games away from San Siro and have been outscored 8-2 during that span.
  • The Nerazzurri have conceded 10 goals in their last five league matches.
  • Stramaccioni's side have lost eight games by a one-goal margin this term.
Prediction
Inter picked up three valuable points in Andrea Stramaccioni’s debut last weekend and should do just enough to make it two wins in a row under the new Italian coach.
Editor's Prediction
Cagliari 1-2 Inter