Wolfsburg-Hamburger SV Preview Match : Bundesliga German 2011/2012

March 23, 2012 7:30 PM GMT
VOLKSWAGEN ARENA — Wolfsburg

Team News

Wolfsburg

Josué and Jan Polak compete for a spot in central midfield. Ashkan Dejagah returns from suspension and could start on the right wing. Patrick Helmes could get another chance to start alongside Mario Mandzukic up front, although Sebastian Polter is an option for the starting line-up as well. 

probable lineups :  Benaglio, Rodriguez, Lopes, Russ, Trasch, Scafer, Jiracek, Polak, Dejagah, Manjukic, Helmes. (4-4-2).

 

17 Mar 20121.   FC Nürnberg 1 - VfL Wolfsburg 3             W

10 Mar 2012     VfL Wolfsburg 3 - Bayer Leverkusen 2       W

3 Mar 2012        Kaiserslautern 0 - VfL Wolfsburg 0              D

25 Feb 2012      VfL Wolfsburg 1 - TSG Hoffenheim  2       L

9 Feb 2012        FC Schalke 04 4 - VfL Wolfsburg 0            L

  Hamburger SV

Heiko Westermann returns from suspension and will start at centre-back, most likely alongside Michael Mancienne. With Dennis Aogo and Marcell Jansen returning from injury, Slobodan Rajkovic and Gökhan Töre will probably drop to the bench. Tomás Rincón and Gojko Kacar compete for a spot in central midfield. Marcus Berg will probably get a chance to start alongside Mladen Petric.

probable lineups : Drobny, Diekmeier, Mancienne, Westermann, Aogo, Ilicevic, Rincon, Jarolim, Jansen, Berg, Petric. (4-4-2).

17 Mar 2012       Hamburger SV 1 - SC Freiburg 3               L

11 Mar 2012       FC Schalke 04 3 - Hamburger SV 1           L

3 Mar 2012         Hamburger SV 0 - VfB Stuttgart 4             L        

24 Feb 2012       B. Mönchengladbach 1 - Hamburger SV 1    D

18 Feb 2012       Hamburger SV 1 - Werder Bremen 3         L

 

Head to Head

22 Oct 2011 Hamburger SV 1 - VfL Wolfsburg 1

12 Feb 2011 VfL Wolfsburg 0 - Hamburger SV 1

22 Sep 2010 Hamburger SV 1 - VfL Wolfsburg 3

29 Jan 2010

Hamburger SV 1 - VfL Wolfsburg 1

23 Aug 2009 VfL Wolfsburg 2 - Hamburger SV 4  

Prediction

Wolfsburg have won their last two games and have been strong at home in the last few months. Manager Magath has a huge pool of players to pick from and no new injury problems. Hamburg have finally been drawn back into the relegation battle. They are only two points above 16th and have struggled to convert chances in recent weeks, despite dominating stages of every game. The players need to improve their concentration in their own and the opponent's box. Expect Hamburg to dominate possession and Wolfsburg to wait for their chances on the break. If the away team is able to avoid making mistakes, this should be a close game.

Wolfsburg  1 - 0  Hamburger SV