This Wednesday Germany will travel to Millenium Stadium, Cardiff, to play against Wales in 2010 World Cup Qualifier. After a 4-0 victory against Liechtenstein, the spirit of Germany is pretty high. So I believe they can win another match in order to maintain the lead in the group. Now here's the preview:
Things to lead to win: Midfield creation and dominance. This is the biggest strength of Germany. Michael Ballack performed very well last match as he dominated the midfield and the opposition did not have chance at all. At the same time, Thomas Hitzlsperger did assist Ballack in the midfield domination. I believe this duo will start the match and they will keep dominating the midfield. Meanwhile, Piotr Trochowski will be very likely to start as his creativeness and long shot will help the team to break through the tough Welsh defense. Lukas Podolski will have lots of support from the midfield and he is very likely to score. So I believe this match Germany's midfield will play the important role to lead the team to win.
Things to watch out for: Fast counter attacks. Wales defense is very tough and sometimes nasty. So I believe they will have a very harsh tackle to Germany midfield in order to stop them creating. From the last match, it can be seen that after they have tackle the ball, then they will long pass to Craig Bellamy to find chances. Craig Bellamy is a speedy striker and he runs everwhere in the pitch so it is definitely a potential threat to Germany, as Germany defense is quite slow paced. So if Germany cannot get rid of the tough tackles, it will be a great danger to them as it is very likely to concede goals.
General preview: Critics said Germany did not have a great game last week because they did not win too many goals. However, I believe they only played the match in first gear and they did not care about how many they score after they were sure to get those 3 points. I believe the key of this match is the midfield battle. Germany will take an advantage based on their class and better ball control. Wales even can tackle the ball hard, they also cannot create the attack well. They rely too much on Craig Bellamy so that the defenders will have an easier job to do. Rene Adler the Germany goalkeeper will definitely miss the match so Robert Enke will have a very good chance to prove himself he is one of the contenders in Germany first choice goalkeeper. Marcell Jansen may go back to the bench even he scored goal last week as Trochowski is better at creativeness. Marco Gomez is still very likely to play as Joachim Löw would like to give him another chance. All in all, I believe Germany can win this match but the score will not be too extreme.
Last round: Germany win 1-0
My tip: Germany win 2-0
Predicted lineup (left to right, 4-2-2-2): Enke - Lahm, Mertesacker, Tasci, Beck - Ballack, Hitzlsperger - Trochowski, Schweinsteiger - Podolski, Gomez
Monday, March 30, 2009
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Germany vs Liechtenstein preview
This week there will not be any German Bundesliga, instead there will be a 2010 World Cup Qualifier match. Germany will host the game against Liechtenstein at Leipzig this Saturday and then will play against Wales at Cardiff in next Wednesday. Now I will focus on previewing Germany national team on the match against Liechtenstein:
Things to lead to win: No need to mention more, Germany outclass Liechtenstein in all sorts. The most obvious sections are the attacking midfield and the strikers. Even Miroslav Klose is injured, I do not believe it will affect anything to the team. Lukas Podolski will definitely start the match and Mario Gomez will be my second choice. This combination can bring more variety on attack, as Gomez is good in the air and Podolski is good at making runs for the through balls. On the other hand, Bastian Schweinsteiger and Piotr Trochowski will be very important in the flanks as their runs can tear the Liechtenstein defense apart again and again. Michael Ballack will be the player who specializes for the forward runs from the midfield can make troubles to Liechtenstein. As there are so many attacking options, I believe Liechtenstein will not even have any chances to touch the ball based on their limited class. Simply speaking Germany will keep scoring.
Things to watch out for: Attitude. This is most important for Germany. Never underestimate the opponents like Liechtenstein as they have no pressure at all. Liechtenstein had made surprises before as they snatched a draw against Portugal 2-2 in World Cup 2006 Qualifier. Even it was long time ago, it still proved that if Germany get any careless, Liechtenstein can make surprises. Furthermore, Germany nearly lost a goal first against San Marino in Euro 08 Qualifier. Goalkeeper Jens Lehmann was very lucky that he touched the ball out of the penalty box and he was not penalized. All Germany need to watch out for is to get into the match straight after the starting whistle. Early goal is very important for Germany as they can control the match early and erase any possibilities for surprises.
Prediction: I do think Germany will control the match in all sorts. Early goal is expected in this match. As coach Joachim Löw and the players all know early goal will bring the victory in the easiest way. Midfield possession will not be challenged as Liechtenstein is being outclassed and they will have a comfortable game. However, I do not believe fans can see a lot of new young players on the pitch as this is a result-oriented match. So, regular starters are predicted and there maybe some young substitutes will play in the middle to later stage of second half when Germany secure all 3 points.
Last round: Germany win 6-0
My tip: Germany win 6-0
Predicted lineup (left to right, 4-2-2-2): Adler - Jansen, Mertesacker, Westermann, Lahm - Ballack, Rolfes - Trochowski, Schweinsteiger - Podolski, Gomez
Things to lead to win: No need to mention more, Germany outclass Liechtenstein in all sorts. The most obvious sections are the attacking midfield and the strikers. Even Miroslav Klose is injured, I do not believe it will affect anything to the team. Lukas Podolski will definitely start the match and Mario Gomez will be my second choice. This combination can bring more variety on attack, as Gomez is good in the air and Podolski is good at making runs for the through balls. On the other hand, Bastian Schweinsteiger and Piotr Trochowski will be very important in the flanks as their runs can tear the Liechtenstein defense apart again and again. Michael Ballack will be the player who specializes for the forward runs from the midfield can make troubles to Liechtenstein. As there are so many attacking options, I believe Liechtenstein will not even have any chances to touch the ball based on their limited class. Simply speaking Germany will keep scoring.
Things to watch out for: Attitude. This is most important for Germany. Never underestimate the opponents like Liechtenstein as they have no pressure at all. Liechtenstein had made surprises before as they snatched a draw against Portugal 2-2 in World Cup 2006 Qualifier. Even it was long time ago, it still proved that if Germany get any careless, Liechtenstein can make surprises. Furthermore, Germany nearly lost a goal first against San Marino in Euro 08 Qualifier. Goalkeeper Jens Lehmann was very lucky that he touched the ball out of the penalty box and he was not penalized. All Germany need to watch out for is to get into the match straight after the starting whistle. Early goal is very important for Germany as they can control the match early and erase any possibilities for surprises.
Prediction: I do think Germany will control the match in all sorts. Early goal is expected in this match. As coach Joachim Löw and the players all know early goal will bring the victory in the easiest way. Midfield possession will not be challenged as Liechtenstein is being outclassed and they will have a comfortable game. However, I do not believe fans can see a lot of new young players on the pitch as this is a result-oriented match. So, regular starters are predicted and there maybe some young substitutes will play in the middle to later stage of second half when Germany secure all 3 points.
Last round: Germany win 6-0
My tip: Germany win 6-0
Predicted lineup (left to right, 4-2-2-2): Adler - Jansen, Mertesacker, Westermann, Lahm - Ballack, Rolfes - Trochowski, Schweinsteiger - Podolski, Gomez
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
German Bundesliga Week 25 Tipping
German Bundesliga had reached the final phase as there are only 10 weeks to go. Hertha Berlin is still leading 4 points at the top but nobody can be sure that they can go all the way. Last week I had tipped 6 correct matches and 1 correct score within them. Now here's my tip of this week:
Borussia Mönchengladbach (16th) vs VfL Bochum (15th) - Friday: An important relegation match kicks off this week. Last week Gladbach did very well to lead Köln all the way and won 4-2 in the end. This was very important for them as they had 2-game winning streak now. Their morale reached to the climax and I believe they can carry on this week. Marko Marin and Alexander Baumjohann are the most important players in the team as they link the attacking very well. Bochum on the other side they had outclassed by Bayern München as they lost 3-0. As Diego Klimowicz is still injured, Stanislav Sestak and Christoph Dabrowski will be very important in attack. However, since Marc Pfertzel is suspended due to the sent off last week, their defense will be very fragile and Gladbach will have more chances to score against them. I believe this match Gladbach will have all the advantage in their hand and they will win in this important match.
Last matchup: Match draw 2-2
My tip: Mönchengladbach win 3-1
Borussia Dortmund (9th) vs Werder Bremen (10th) - Saturday: This is one of the major matches in Saturday. Again Dortmund had failed to finish the game against Hannover 96 last week and let them bounced back to snatch a 4-4 draw. I do not want to repeat the problem again as Dortmund always repeat the problem, fail to finish the goal and fail to finish the match. These 2 failures lead them to have the "remarkable" record, that is drawing 13 games in 24 matches. Werder Bremen on the other hand they had a stunning victory against VfB Stuttgart by 4-0 last Sunday. Diego, Markus Rosenburg, and Claudio Pizarro did very well last week and I do believe they can carry on in this week. However, it is unclear about Petri Pansanen if can play or not as he is injured. I believe this match will be the high scoring match again and they will cancel each other out.
Last matchup: Match draw 3-3
My tip: Match draw 2-2
Arminia Bielefeld (14th) vs VfL Wolfsburg (3rd) - Saturday: Bielefeld keeps improving recently as last week they have won 1-0 against Karlsruher and took all 3 important points. Their defense and attacking started to improve and it looks better and better. I believe this game they will keep improving and bring some threats to the opposition. Wolfsburg on the other hand, they have survived the thriller and won 4-3 against Schalke. One thing surprises me is their away form is improving significantly. So this is the reason why they reach to 3rd in the table. Grafite and Eden Dzeko are very important in the team, they have an excellent finishing skills that lead to threats to Bielefeld. Zvjezdan Misimovic is the important playmaker and he can create lots of goals. Considering the improving form of Wolfsburg, I believe they will win this one.
Last matchup: Wolfsburg win 4-1
My tip: Wolfsburg win 3-1
1899 Hoffenheim (5th) vs Hannover 96 (13th) - Saturday: Hoffenheim last week failed to win and dropped to 5th in the table. This hurt them in the title challenge very much and I believe they are very hard to bounce back without Vedad Ibisevic. The other concern is the defense, Daniel Haas failed to impress the fans as he sometimes made cheap mistakes. Timo Hildebrand failed to impress to the coach and even failed to get into the starting lineup. Central defenders did not bring too much confident so that Hannover may have chance to score goal. However, Hannover had the worst away game record as they only had 1 point from all away game. At the same time, the massive injuries, including Frank Fahrenhorst, Steven Cherundolo, and Michael Tarnat make them have more difficult to stop goals. Even the attacking players in Hoffenheim are not at the top form, I believe they can score goals easily and win this one easily.
Last matchup: Hoffenheim win 5-2
My tip: Hoffenheim win 4-1
Bayer Leverkusen (7th) vs Eintract Frankfurt (12th) - Saturday: Leverkusen last week had lost to Hertha Berlin 1-0 and they seemed to continue to slump. It was undeniable that the goal from Andrei Voronin was lucky, but their inability of scoring goals actually the real reason to kill them. Patrick Helmes is still in hot streak but Stefan Kießling is in the cold streak. Tranquillo Barnetta and Arturo Vidal start to get cold streak as well, their runs start not to be so threatening anymore. Toni Kroos is still cannot perform so well so Partick Helmes lost all the support available. However, Frankfurt is not very strong in the attacks. Martin Fenin is not in the good form all season long so far, and the Greek duo Ioannis Amanatidis and Nikos Liberopoulous failed to perform well so that Frankfurt also lost the whole attacking force. I believe this will be a low scoring game and Leverkusen will win by their better quality and the red hot Partick Helmes.
Last matchup: Leverkusen win 2-0
My tip: Leverkusen win 1-0
VfB Stuttgart (6th) vs Hertha Berlin (1st) - Saturday: This is the most important match of this week. Stuttgart had lost the first Bundesliga match since the arrival of Markus Babbel. I believe this is a big moment of him on how to boost the players up as they have lost 4-0 against Werder Bremen comprehensively. Mario Gomez is the most important player in the match and Thomas Hitzlsperger, and Sami Khedira will be the most important players to support Gomez. On the other hand, Hertha Berlin was a bit lucky to win last week, especially for Andrei Voronin, the fortune also favored him. However, it is undeniable that their solid defense made the opposition no chance to score goals. Arne Friedrich leads the defense line very well and they rarely concede goals. Even it seems Hertha Berlin has the advantage in this week, I believe Stuttgart can pick up in time and able to cancel Hertha Berlin out.
Last matchup: Hertha Berlin win 2-1
My tip: Match draw 1-1
Bayern München (2nd) vs Karlsruher SC (18th) - Saturday: Bayern last week had won against Bochum 3-0 without Franck Ribery. Even critics may say the opponent is too weak to stop them but at least they can win the game without him. Jose Sosa did very well last week, but as Ribery is set to return, I believe he will be on the bench again. Miroslav Klose is injured for 6-8 weeks and leads Lukas Podolski is only available striker this week. I believe Ribery will be at the second striker position to fill up the gap and rookie Thomas Müller will be still on the bench. Meanwhile, Karlsruher is still in the deep trouble and it seems they never reach the end of the dark tunnel. All sorts of problems are happened to them and never seems there is any ways to solve it. Marco Engelhardt will be the most important player again and see how long he can stop Bayern. Considering Bayern outgun Karlsruher, I believe Bayern will have a big win even there is only 1 striker available, and most likely to have 1st clean sheet of the season as well.
Last matchup: Bayern München win 1-0
My tip: Bayern München win 5-0
Energie Cottbus (17th) vs 1. FC Köln (11th) - Saturday: Cottbus started to slump and all the efforts they had before were totally wasted. They lost to Hamburger SV last week and led them drop to 17th. They started to going back to their problem, those are lack of discipline defense and shape attack. On the other hand, after Köln had a memorable victory against Bayern, they failed to keep on this morale and they are very unstable in the moment. Once again the midfield failed to support Milivoje Novakovic and led them to lost 4-2 against Gladbach. The defense must concentrate this match as Cottbus attacking sometimes is not as bad as they are. I believe this match will be a draw because both of them are very unstable at the moment and will cancel each other out.
Last matchup: Köln win 1-0
My tip: Match draw 1-1
Schalke 04 (8th) vs Hamburger SV (4th) - Sunday: Schalke still had all sorts of problems. Previously I have said they had the problem in attacking but last week they had the problem of defending. It seemed their attacking started to become normal as Ivan Ratikic and Vicente Sanchez could create some good attacks. Plus Kevin Kuranyi started to get the scoring feeling, even it is still far from enough. However, their defense started to lose the discipline since Bordon is injured. He is likely to return but I doubt his match fitness. I believe the key of Schalke this match is still the attacking, as they need to keep the consistency. On the other side, Hamburger may be affected by the UEFA Cup match against Galatasaray, as they will be back from Istanbul. Ivica Olic and Piotr Trochowski will be very important in the match as they are the core of all attacks. Their away form is also improving so I think it will bring threats to Schalke. Considering the match fitness of Hamburger, I believe this match will be the low scoring game and a draw will be likely to happen.
Last matchup: Match draw 1-1
My tip: Match draw 1-1
So that's it! Have a good weekend!
Borussia Mönchengladbach (16th) vs VfL Bochum (15th) - Friday: An important relegation match kicks off this week. Last week Gladbach did very well to lead Köln all the way and won 4-2 in the end. This was very important for them as they had 2-game winning streak now. Their morale reached to the climax and I believe they can carry on this week. Marko Marin and Alexander Baumjohann are the most important players in the team as they link the attacking very well. Bochum on the other side they had outclassed by Bayern München as they lost 3-0. As Diego Klimowicz is still injured, Stanislav Sestak and Christoph Dabrowski will be very important in attack. However, since Marc Pfertzel is suspended due to the sent off last week, their defense will be very fragile and Gladbach will have more chances to score against them. I believe this match Gladbach will have all the advantage in their hand and they will win in this important match.
Last matchup: Match draw 2-2
My tip: Mönchengladbach win 3-1
Borussia Dortmund (9th) vs Werder Bremen (10th) - Saturday: This is one of the major matches in Saturday. Again Dortmund had failed to finish the game against Hannover 96 last week and let them bounced back to snatch a 4-4 draw. I do not want to repeat the problem again as Dortmund always repeat the problem, fail to finish the goal and fail to finish the match. These 2 failures lead them to have the "remarkable" record, that is drawing 13 games in 24 matches. Werder Bremen on the other hand they had a stunning victory against VfB Stuttgart by 4-0 last Sunday. Diego, Markus Rosenburg, and Claudio Pizarro did very well last week and I do believe they can carry on in this week. However, it is unclear about Petri Pansanen if can play or not as he is injured. I believe this match will be the high scoring match again and they will cancel each other out.
Last matchup: Match draw 3-3
My tip: Match draw 2-2
Arminia Bielefeld (14th) vs VfL Wolfsburg (3rd) - Saturday: Bielefeld keeps improving recently as last week they have won 1-0 against Karlsruher and took all 3 important points. Their defense and attacking started to improve and it looks better and better. I believe this game they will keep improving and bring some threats to the opposition. Wolfsburg on the other hand, they have survived the thriller and won 4-3 against Schalke. One thing surprises me is their away form is improving significantly. So this is the reason why they reach to 3rd in the table. Grafite and Eden Dzeko are very important in the team, they have an excellent finishing skills that lead to threats to Bielefeld. Zvjezdan Misimovic is the important playmaker and he can create lots of goals. Considering the improving form of Wolfsburg, I believe they will win this one.
Last matchup: Wolfsburg win 4-1
My tip: Wolfsburg win 3-1
1899 Hoffenheim (5th) vs Hannover 96 (13th) - Saturday: Hoffenheim last week failed to win and dropped to 5th in the table. This hurt them in the title challenge very much and I believe they are very hard to bounce back without Vedad Ibisevic. The other concern is the defense, Daniel Haas failed to impress the fans as he sometimes made cheap mistakes. Timo Hildebrand failed to impress to the coach and even failed to get into the starting lineup. Central defenders did not bring too much confident so that Hannover may have chance to score goal. However, Hannover had the worst away game record as they only had 1 point from all away game. At the same time, the massive injuries, including Frank Fahrenhorst, Steven Cherundolo, and Michael Tarnat make them have more difficult to stop goals. Even the attacking players in Hoffenheim are not at the top form, I believe they can score goals easily and win this one easily.
Last matchup: Hoffenheim win 5-2
My tip: Hoffenheim win 4-1
Bayer Leverkusen (7th) vs Eintract Frankfurt (12th) - Saturday: Leverkusen last week had lost to Hertha Berlin 1-0 and they seemed to continue to slump. It was undeniable that the goal from Andrei Voronin was lucky, but their inability of scoring goals actually the real reason to kill them. Patrick Helmes is still in hot streak but Stefan Kießling is in the cold streak. Tranquillo Barnetta and Arturo Vidal start to get cold streak as well, their runs start not to be so threatening anymore. Toni Kroos is still cannot perform so well so Partick Helmes lost all the support available. However, Frankfurt is not very strong in the attacks. Martin Fenin is not in the good form all season long so far, and the Greek duo Ioannis Amanatidis and Nikos Liberopoulous failed to perform well so that Frankfurt also lost the whole attacking force. I believe this will be a low scoring game and Leverkusen will win by their better quality and the red hot Partick Helmes.
Last matchup: Leverkusen win 2-0
My tip: Leverkusen win 1-0
VfB Stuttgart (6th) vs Hertha Berlin (1st) - Saturday: This is the most important match of this week. Stuttgart had lost the first Bundesliga match since the arrival of Markus Babbel. I believe this is a big moment of him on how to boost the players up as they have lost 4-0 against Werder Bremen comprehensively. Mario Gomez is the most important player in the match and Thomas Hitzlsperger, and Sami Khedira will be the most important players to support Gomez. On the other hand, Hertha Berlin was a bit lucky to win last week, especially for Andrei Voronin, the fortune also favored him. However, it is undeniable that their solid defense made the opposition no chance to score goals. Arne Friedrich leads the defense line very well and they rarely concede goals. Even it seems Hertha Berlin has the advantage in this week, I believe Stuttgart can pick up in time and able to cancel Hertha Berlin out.
Last matchup: Hertha Berlin win 2-1
My tip: Match draw 1-1
Bayern München (2nd) vs Karlsruher SC (18th) - Saturday: Bayern last week had won against Bochum 3-0 without Franck Ribery. Even critics may say the opponent is too weak to stop them but at least they can win the game without him. Jose Sosa did very well last week, but as Ribery is set to return, I believe he will be on the bench again. Miroslav Klose is injured for 6-8 weeks and leads Lukas Podolski is only available striker this week. I believe Ribery will be at the second striker position to fill up the gap and rookie Thomas Müller will be still on the bench. Meanwhile, Karlsruher is still in the deep trouble and it seems they never reach the end of the dark tunnel. All sorts of problems are happened to them and never seems there is any ways to solve it. Marco Engelhardt will be the most important player again and see how long he can stop Bayern. Considering Bayern outgun Karlsruher, I believe Bayern will have a big win even there is only 1 striker available, and most likely to have 1st clean sheet of the season as well.
Last matchup: Bayern München win 1-0
My tip: Bayern München win 5-0
Energie Cottbus (17th) vs 1. FC Köln (11th) - Saturday: Cottbus started to slump and all the efforts they had before were totally wasted. They lost to Hamburger SV last week and led them drop to 17th. They started to going back to their problem, those are lack of discipline defense and shape attack. On the other hand, after Köln had a memorable victory against Bayern, they failed to keep on this morale and they are very unstable in the moment. Once again the midfield failed to support Milivoje Novakovic and led them to lost 4-2 against Gladbach. The defense must concentrate this match as Cottbus attacking sometimes is not as bad as they are. I believe this match will be a draw because both of them are very unstable at the moment and will cancel each other out.
Last matchup: Köln win 1-0
My tip: Match draw 1-1
Schalke 04 (8th) vs Hamburger SV (4th) - Sunday: Schalke still had all sorts of problems. Previously I have said they had the problem in attacking but last week they had the problem of defending. It seemed their attacking started to become normal as Ivan Ratikic and Vicente Sanchez could create some good attacks. Plus Kevin Kuranyi started to get the scoring feeling, even it is still far from enough. However, their defense started to lose the discipline since Bordon is injured. He is likely to return but I doubt his match fitness. I believe the key of Schalke this match is still the attacking, as they need to keep the consistency. On the other side, Hamburger may be affected by the UEFA Cup match against Galatasaray, as they will be back from Istanbul. Ivica Olic and Piotr Trochowski will be very important in the match as they are the core of all attacks. Their away form is also improving so I think it will bring threats to Schalke. Considering the match fitness of Hamburger, I believe this match will be the low scoring game and a draw will be likely to happen.
Last matchup: Match draw 1-1
My tip: Match draw 1-1
So that's it! Have a good weekend!
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
German Bundesliga Week 24 Tipping
This weekend German Bundesliga has reached 24th week of the season. Hertha Berlin last week performed very well and strengthen the lead by 4 point in the top of the table. However, the title race is very tight still as 2nd to 5th team are all with the same point, only goal difference, or even head-to-head record seperate them. Now here's the tip of this week:
VfL Wolfsburg (4th) vs Schalke 04 (8th) - Friday: Last week Wolfsburg beated Karlsruher 1-0 showed their how tough they defend this season so far. Plus Eden Dzeko's performance is getting better and better so they can reach 4th in the position. This week I believe they can perform the solid defense against Schalke 04 and the opposition are very hard to score them. On the other hand, Schalke has the 2 wins in a row since November last year by winning 1-0 last week. However, Kevin Kuranyi and Jefferson Farfan are still unreliable and Ivan Ratikic is not in match form. They now rely on the scoring ability in the midfield as the strikers cannot do their job at all. Bordon is unlikely to play but he cannot help too much on the attack. So I believe Schalke will lose this game as they are not good at attacking.
Last matchup: Match draw 2-2
My tip: Wolfsburg win 1-0
Hertha Berlin (1st) vs Bayer Leverkusen (7th) - Saturday: Hertha Berlin still look strong after they went through the tricky trip of Cottbus last week. Andrei Voronin is still in excellent form as he was the only person to change the whole game last week. He is still looking very dangerous to Leverkusen as the defense is slumping. Also, the midfield can create the attack well so that Voronin has such as great time. On the other hand, Leverkusen could not recover their best form still as they have slided down to 7th already. Even though Patrick Helmes is still in excellent form but the other players such as Stefan Kießling cannot relieve him. Tranquillo Barnetta works very hard but his effort cannot do too much help. Arturo Vidal is injured and see if Toni Kroos may relieve the position well. The most worrying part is the defense. Lukas Sinkiewicz is not good at all so Andrei Voronin will be very happy as he can get pass him easily. Henrique is the most important player in this match as he needs to stop the Hertha attack by himself.
Last matchup: Hertha Berlin win 1-0
My tip: Hertha Berlin win 2-0
Hannover 96 (13th) vs Borussia Dortmund (9th) - Saturday: Hannover last week had suffered the major setback as they had been crashed by Bayern München 5-1. Aerial defense was the key they lost the game as 4 of them were come from headers. Another problem was the poor away from as they had only drew 1 game in aggregate. However, this week they return to home so I believe it cannot get worse than last week at least. Jiri Stajner is the most important player now. His creativity on the midfield is directly affecting the result of the team. On the other hand, Borussia Dortmund had suffered the loss last week against VfB Stuttgart. It was because they could not attack well. Since the return of winter break Dortmund again and again failed to seek the best attacking form yet so if they trail behind, they are very hard to bounce back as Alexander Frei, Nelson Valdez, and Mohamed Zidan all failed to prove themselves. Tamas Hajnal is the only player who is trustable in attack but sadly he cannot take care all of the attacking issue. I believe Hannover may bring some surprises even they have suffered last week.
Last matchup: Match draw 1-1
My tip: Hannover win 2-1
Karlsruher SC (18th) vs Armina Bielefeld (15th) - Saturday: Karlsruher had slumped to the bottom after their prolonged poor form of this season. Marco Engelhardt had done all he could but the team still struggle. The attacking is still having all sorts of trouble and seems they do not know what scoring means even. The drastic change of attacking style is urgently needed for them now but this match I do not believe they can make anything surprise. On the other hand, Arminia Bielefeld had a bore draw against Eintract Frankfurt. This was good enough for them to catch a breathe in the relegation fight. Again, Artur Wichniarek holds the key of the success and I believe he can score goals in this match as the Karlsruher defense is not so good as well. Arminia Bielefeld will continue climb up the table and Karlsruher will still struggle after this match.
Last matchup: Karlsruher win 2-1
My tip: Bielefeld win 2-0
1. FC Köln (11th) vs Borussia Mönchengladbach (17th) - Saturday: Köln last week had lost to Schalke 1-0 showed the only striker and captain Milivoje Novakovic could not handle the attack by himself. As the midfield had been control by the opposition, the team simply failed to support Novakovic. Armando Petit will be the key player this week to hold on the midfield and makes sure the support from the midfield is adequate for Novakovic. On the other hand, Gladbach had the best match of the season last week as they stunned most of the fans and won Hamburger SV 4-1. The whole team showed their determination and morale in the match and I believe it helps them very much in the remaining 11 weeks. I believe the key of the match is Armando Petit and Tomas Galasek as they both are important players in the midfield.
Last matchup: Köln win 2-1
My tip: Mönchengladbach win 1-0
Eintract Frankfurt (12th) vs 1899 Hoffenheim (3rd) - Saturday: Eintract Frankfurt is starting to get relax in the remaining matches as they feel safe in the relegation fight. Even there are only 4 points different, there are so many teams are behind them so that it is very rare if they drop into the relegation zone in a short period of time. I believe they will not have any pressure in this week so that it is not surprise if they are not able to win this match. Hoffenheim at the same time they are still hoping to create history. They were very unlucky that they were unable to score goal as Boubacar Sanogo had hit the post for 3 times. This match the team will rely on him and Demba Ba as Vedad Ibisevic is out for season, as well as Chinedu Obasi is out for a month. I believe Sanogo and Ba are able to score goals this time if the connect each other well and they are a bit more lucky.
Last matchup: Hoffenheim win 2-1
My tip: Hoffenheim win 3-1
VfL Bochum (14th) vs Bayern München (2nd) - Saturday: Bochum had improved significantly as they had won 3 in 5 matches. The main reason was the arrival of Diego Klimowicz and Vlad Munteanu. Along with Christoph Dabrowski, the attacking had become threatening. This week they still need 3 points to ensure they are going out of trouble but they will have tough time. At the same time, Bayern seemed they had come back as they won Hannover 5-1 last week. The absence of Franck Ribery made the team looked more team work. This week Ribery are very likely to return and see what happen if he comes back. He is still a huge threat to the opposition and I believe he will bring lots of harm to the opposition this week. Together with the astonishing victory in Champions League, I believe they have very high morality and I believe they will win this one. They key of the match is Bayern must not concede goal first, or else they are very hard to climb back.
Last matchup: Match draw 3-3
My tip: Bayern München win 3-1
Werder Bremen (10th) vs VfB Stuttgart (6th) - Sunday: Werder Bremen was a bit lucky for not losing any goals last week against Hoffenheim. No matter Naldo or Petri Pansanen, both of them cannot give confident to the fans in terms of defense. Claudio Pizarro keep missing chances may kill the team this week as Stuttgart are good at defense and counter attacks. Per Mertesacker again has an important job as he is the only player who can stop Mario Gomez. Stuttgart at the same time, they have beaten Borussia Dortmund and maintained the unbeaten streak since the arrival of Markus Babbel. The midfield is so young and energetic that very few teams can break them through. Sami Khedira is the most important midfielder as he control the flow very well. I believe this match Werder Bremen even in the home court, it is still very hard to win. There will not be a high scoring game and I believe a draw is very likely to happen.
Last matchup: VfB Stuttgart win 4-1
My tip: Match draw 1-1
Hamburger SV (5th) vs Energie Cottbus (16th) - Sunday: Hamburger once again proved themselves they could not play away from home, as they lost 4-1 against Gladbach. However, this week I believe they can give fans some confidence as they go back at home, where they always perform very very well. Piotr Trochowski is the most important player again, together with Ivica Olic and Mlaten Petric, they will bring lots of harm to Cottbus. The only concern is they will play this game after the tough UEFA Cup match against Galatasaray, as I believe that match will consume lots of energy. Cottbus at the same time, they failed to score an insurance goal and led Hertha Berlin fight back. They kept on improving but sadly it was not good enough still. They are facing a very tough challenge this week and the only hope for them is if Hamburger players are tired, so that they have chance to make surprise.
Last matchup: Hamburger win 2-1
My tip: Hamburger win 2-0
That's it. Have a nice week!!
VfL Wolfsburg (4th) vs Schalke 04 (8th) - Friday: Last week Wolfsburg beated Karlsruher 1-0 showed their how tough they defend this season so far. Plus Eden Dzeko's performance is getting better and better so they can reach 4th in the position. This week I believe they can perform the solid defense against Schalke 04 and the opposition are very hard to score them. On the other hand, Schalke has the 2 wins in a row since November last year by winning 1-0 last week. However, Kevin Kuranyi and Jefferson Farfan are still unreliable and Ivan Ratikic is not in match form. They now rely on the scoring ability in the midfield as the strikers cannot do their job at all. Bordon is unlikely to play but he cannot help too much on the attack. So I believe Schalke will lose this game as they are not good at attacking.
Last matchup: Match draw 2-2
My tip: Wolfsburg win 1-0
Hertha Berlin (1st) vs Bayer Leverkusen (7th) - Saturday: Hertha Berlin still look strong after they went through the tricky trip of Cottbus last week. Andrei Voronin is still in excellent form as he was the only person to change the whole game last week. He is still looking very dangerous to Leverkusen as the defense is slumping. Also, the midfield can create the attack well so that Voronin has such as great time. On the other hand, Leverkusen could not recover their best form still as they have slided down to 7th already. Even though Patrick Helmes is still in excellent form but the other players such as Stefan Kießling cannot relieve him. Tranquillo Barnetta works very hard but his effort cannot do too much help. Arturo Vidal is injured and see if Toni Kroos may relieve the position well. The most worrying part is the defense. Lukas Sinkiewicz is not good at all so Andrei Voronin will be very happy as he can get pass him easily. Henrique is the most important player in this match as he needs to stop the Hertha attack by himself.
Last matchup: Hertha Berlin win 1-0
My tip: Hertha Berlin win 2-0
Hannover 96 (13th) vs Borussia Dortmund (9th) - Saturday: Hannover last week had suffered the major setback as they had been crashed by Bayern München 5-1. Aerial defense was the key they lost the game as 4 of them were come from headers. Another problem was the poor away from as they had only drew 1 game in aggregate. However, this week they return to home so I believe it cannot get worse than last week at least. Jiri Stajner is the most important player now. His creativity on the midfield is directly affecting the result of the team. On the other hand, Borussia Dortmund had suffered the loss last week against VfB Stuttgart. It was because they could not attack well. Since the return of winter break Dortmund again and again failed to seek the best attacking form yet so if they trail behind, they are very hard to bounce back as Alexander Frei, Nelson Valdez, and Mohamed Zidan all failed to prove themselves. Tamas Hajnal is the only player who is trustable in attack but sadly he cannot take care all of the attacking issue. I believe Hannover may bring some surprises even they have suffered last week.
Last matchup: Match draw 1-1
My tip: Hannover win 2-1
Karlsruher SC (18th) vs Armina Bielefeld (15th) - Saturday: Karlsruher had slumped to the bottom after their prolonged poor form of this season. Marco Engelhardt had done all he could but the team still struggle. The attacking is still having all sorts of trouble and seems they do not know what scoring means even. The drastic change of attacking style is urgently needed for them now but this match I do not believe they can make anything surprise. On the other hand, Arminia Bielefeld had a bore draw against Eintract Frankfurt. This was good enough for them to catch a breathe in the relegation fight. Again, Artur Wichniarek holds the key of the success and I believe he can score goals in this match as the Karlsruher defense is not so good as well. Arminia Bielefeld will continue climb up the table and Karlsruher will still struggle after this match.
Last matchup: Karlsruher win 2-1
My tip: Bielefeld win 2-0
1. FC Köln (11th) vs Borussia Mönchengladbach (17th) - Saturday: Köln last week had lost to Schalke 1-0 showed the only striker and captain Milivoje Novakovic could not handle the attack by himself. As the midfield had been control by the opposition, the team simply failed to support Novakovic. Armando Petit will be the key player this week to hold on the midfield and makes sure the support from the midfield is adequate for Novakovic. On the other hand, Gladbach had the best match of the season last week as they stunned most of the fans and won Hamburger SV 4-1. The whole team showed their determination and morale in the match and I believe it helps them very much in the remaining 11 weeks. I believe the key of the match is Armando Petit and Tomas Galasek as they both are important players in the midfield.
Last matchup: Köln win 2-1
My tip: Mönchengladbach win 1-0
Eintract Frankfurt (12th) vs 1899 Hoffenheim (3rd) - Saturday: Eintract Frankfurt is starting to get relax in the remaining matches as they feel safe in the relegation fight. Even there are only 4 points different, there are so many teams are behind them so that it is very rare if they drop into the relegation zone in a short period of time. I believe they will not have any pressure in this week so that it is not surprise if they are not able to win this match. Hoffenheim at the same time they are still hoping to create history. They were very unlucky that they were unable to score goal as Boubacar Sanogo had hit the post for 3 times. This match the team will rely on him and Demba Ba as Vedad Ibisevic is out for season, as well as Chinedu Obasi is out for a month. I believe Sanogo and Ba are able to score goals this time if the connect each other well and they are a bit more lucky.
Last matchup: Hoffenheim win 2-1
My tip: Hoffenheim win 3-1
VfL Bochum (14th) vs Bayern München (2nd) - Saturday: Bochum had improved significantly as they had won 3 in 5 matches. The main reason was the arrival of Diego Klimowicz and Vlad Munteanu. Along with Christoph Dabrowski, the attacking had become threatening. This week they still need 3 points to ensure they are going out of trouble but they will have tough time. At the same time, Bayern seemed they had come back as they won Hannover 5-1 last week. The absence of Franck Ribery made the team looked more team work. This week Ribery are very likely to return and see what happen if he comes back. He is still a huge threat to the opposition and I believe he will bring lots of harm to the opposition this week. Together with the astonishing victory in Champions League, I believe they have very high morality and I believe they will win this one. They key of the match is Bayern must not concede goal first, or else they are very hard to climb back.
Last matchup: Match draw 3-3
My tip: Bayern München win 3-1
Werder Bremen (10th) vs VfB Stuttgart (6th) - Sunday: Werder Bremen was a bit lucky for not losing any goals last week against Hoffenheim. No matter Naldo or Petri Pansanen, both of them cannot give confident to the fans in terms of defense. Claudio Pizarro keep missing chances may kill the team this week as Stuttgart are good at defense and counter attacks. Per Mertesacker again has an important job as he is the only player who can stop Mario Gomez. Stuttgart at the same time, they have beaten Borussia Dortmund and maintained the unbeaten streak since the arrival of Markus Babbel. The midfield is so young and energetic that very few teams can break them through. Sami Khedira is the most important midfielder as he control the flow very well. I believe this match Werder Bremen even in the home court, it is still very hard to win. There will not be a high scoring game and I believe a draw is very likely to happen.
Last matchup: VfB Stuttgart win 4-1
My tip: Match draw 1-1
Hamburger SV (5th) vs Energie Cottbus (16th) - Sunday: Hamburger once again proved themselves they could not play away from home, as they lost 4-1 against Gladbach. However, this week I believe they can give fans some confidence as they go back at home, where they always perform very very well. Piotr Trochowski is the most important player again, together with Ivica Olic and Mlaten Petric, they will bring lots of harm to Cottbus. The only concern is they will play this game after the tough UEFA Cup match against Galatasaray, as I believe that match will consume lots of energy. Cottbus at the same time, they failed to score an insurance goal and led Hertha Berlin fight back. They kept on improving but sadly it was not good enough still. They are facing a very tough challenge this week and the only hope for them is if Hamburger players are tired, so that they have chance to make surprise.
Last matchup: Hamburger win 2-1
My tip: Hamburger win 2-0
That's it. Have a nice week!!
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
German Bundesliga Week 23 Tipping
After 22 weeks of Bundesliga, the title challenge is still an unknown. Hertha Berlin had claimed the 1st spot as they were the only team who could claim all 3 points. Hoffenheim still could not solve the problem of the absence of Vedad Ibisevic and they will have the great challenge this week. Now here's the tipping of this week:
Schalke 04 (8th) vs 1. FC Köln (10th) - Friday: Schalke still had the problem of the attacking. It seemed coach Fred Rutten could not solve this problem at all. Even though Schalke had scored 2 goals last week, the attacking players were still inconsistent. Kevin Kuranyi again is still in cold streak and he just played in the first half in the DFB Pokal loss against Mainz. The midfield still could not create anything as Ivan Ratikic could not perform well. The attacking was still in the cold streak. I believe they are very hard to score against Köln. On the other hand, the defense of Köln is very solid recently, it is very hard to break them through. However, the attacking is too relying on Milivoje Novakovic. The midfield has the great power to tackle the opposition but they cannot assist the strikers. So I believe this match is all about the finishing and creativeness. Even Schalke has home court advantage, it is still hard to call they can win.
Last matchup: Köln win 1-0
My tip: Match draw 1-1
1899 Hoffenheim (3rd) vs Werder Bremen (11th) - Saturday: The match of the week. Hoffenheim has the problem of attacking since Vedad Ibisevic cannot play anymore this season. Demba Ba seems to be the best reliever but he is not so consistent. The defense still has lots of problems based on the position and the timing of tackle. Carlos Eduardo is still the creator of the team and he is very important to score against Werder Bremen. At the same time, Werder Bremen did very well against Bayern München last Sunday, but they lost Naldo as he had received a red card and caused him a 3-match suspension. Petri Pansenan is predicted to play as the centre back just like last match and it is still doubtful if there is any impact to the defense. Per Mertesacker is still the key player in the match as Werder Bremen needs to stop conceding goals to lead them to win. I believe this is a high scoring match and the team with better defense wins.
Last matchup: Werder Bremen win 5-4
My tip: Match draw 3-3
Borussia Mönchengladbach (18th) vs Hamburger SV (2nd) - Saturday: Gladbach seems to be improving in the recent weeks. However Hertha Berlin was too good for them so they lost the game. Marko Marin and Alexander Baumjohann are still the most important players in the team and they do hope they can rely on the home court advantage to bring a victory. However Gladbach needs the better defense in order to stop conceding goals as Hamburger are good on attacking. Hamburger was very surprising for me as they lost to Wolfsburg at home and missed the chance to be the 1st in the table again. I personally am pretty worried about them this match as their away match form is quite poor. Ivica Olic and Piotr Trochowski are the most important players in the team as they can create goals well. Marcell Jansen is another player to watch out for as his runs in left flank is very threatening. However, the poor away form drag them down. So this is the very tricky call for me and Gladbach has chance to make surprises.
Last matchup: Hamburger win 1-0
My tip: Match draw 1-1
Bayern München (5th) vs Hannover 96 (12th) - Saturday: Bayern could not convert the great form in Champions League into the league and they failed to win against Werder Bremen with 1-man advantage. Even worse, they lost to Bayer Leverkusen in the DFB Pokal. The main reason was the players were not fit and they had very few options in the squad as there was not any squad depth at all. Franck Ribery and Miroslav Klose will be very important as Luca Toni is very likely to be out of action. Also, they must defend well as they always concede goals before the score that leads them to have great pressure up front. It is quite lucky for them that they only face Hannover this week. Hannover is very poor in the away form, even though they won against Leverkusen last week, it cannot prove they are recovering in terms of form. So I still give my vote to Bayern, even they will concede goals again.
Last matchup: Hannover win 1-0
My tip: Bayern München win 3-1
Energie Cottbus (16th) vs Hertha Berlin (1st) - Saturday: Cottbus is the other team who is improving quickly. They were very careless that they lost to Bochum 3-2 last week. However, they showed their spirit and roughness to the opposition, the obvious example was the victory against Werder Bremen 2 weeks ago. So I think they can surprise Hertha Berlin this week. At the same time, Hertha Berlin is too relying on the home form but it seems they do not know how to win a game away from home. Andrei Voronin and Nicu will be the players Cottbus needs to watch out for and they are the main force to score goals. Even Hertha Berlin are very fit recently but I do not think they can win this one, as their away form is quite poor and Cottbus fighting spirit can bring Hertha Berlin trouble.
Last matchup: Cottbus win 1-0
My tip: Cottbus win 2-1
VfL Wolfsburg (4th) vs Karlsruher SC (17th) - Saturday: Wolfsburg is playing under the raider and they slowly but surely climb up to the 4th in the table. Now they are one of the title contenders. Eden Dzeko and Grafite keep improving the form and together with the solid defense from Andrea Bazagli, I personally am very confident that they can keep winning this week. Karlsurher on the other hand, I do not think they can make anything special this week as they have a very poor form recently. Also, they still cannot find the scoring formula. So they are very hard to score goals against the opposition. Even Wolfsburg lost 5-2 against Werder Bremen in DFB Pokal, Wolfsburg will not be affected and keep winning.
Last matchup: Karlsruher win 2-1
My tip: Wolfsburg win 3-0
VfB Stuttgart (7th) vs Borussia Dortmund (9th) - Saturday: Stuttgart finally had found the way to win the game, but the opposition was too weak for them. However, they are still in a good run as they are still unbeaten since the arrival of Markus Babbel. I believe their good form will keep on and they will bring lots of pressure to the opposition. On the other hand, Dortmund cannot convert their form into winning the game so they keep drawing. They have drawn 12 games out of 22 games so I believe it is very likely to draw this week. Mohamad Zidan and Nelson Valdez must pick up his form in order to break up the draw curse to win the game. The key of this game is who can break this deadlock first.
Last matchup: Dortmund win 3-0
My tip: Match draw 2-2
Arminia Bielefeld (15th) vs Eintract Frankfurt (13th) - Sunday: Bielefeid is still struggling to get the best form yet. Even Artur Wichniarek is in the good form but I do not believe he is good enough to bring the team out of trouble. I do not see there is any help from the team so if he play badly, the team will lose. On the other hand, Frankfurt did not have any motivation to win the game as they believe they are good enough to remain at the Bundesliga. So I believe this game Bielefeld will control the game and they will win this one in small margin.
Last matchup: Match draw 1-1
My tip: Bielefeld win 2-1
Bayer Leverkusen (6th) vs VfL Bochum (14th) - Sunday: Leverkusen is very inconsistent in terms of defense. They failed to win against Hannover last week and they remained at 6th position only. Manual Friedrich is out for injury for 8 weeks will hurt the team very much, as Lukas Sinkiewicz is very shaky in the defense line. I believe this is the weakest link of the team and Bochum may find some chance there. However, the victory of DFB Pokal will boost their morale very much so that I believe they still have upper hand. On the other hand, Bochum showed their toughness to beat Cottbus 3-2 last week and I believe this morale will keep on this Sunday. However, Leverkusen is too good for them to beat, so I believe Leverkusen can take all 3 points.
Last matchup: Leverkusen win 3-2
My tip: Leverkusen win 2-0
So that's it for this week! Happy weekend!
Schalke 04 (8th) vs 1. FC Köln (10th) - Friday: Schalke still had the problem of the attacking. It seemed coach Fred Rutten could not solve this problem at all. Even though Schalke had scored 2 goals last week, the attacking players were still inconsistent. Kevin Kuranyi again is still in cold streak and he just played in the first half in the DFB Pokal loss against Mainz. The midfield still could not create anything as Ivan Ratikic could not perform well. The attacking was still in the cold streak. I believe they are very hard to score against Köln. On the other hand, the defense of Köln is very solid recently, it is very hard to break them through. However, the attacking is too relying on Milivoje Novakovic. The midfield has the great power to tackle the opposition but they cannot assist the strikers. So I believe this match is all about the finishing and creativeness. Even Schalke has home court advantage, it is still hard to call they can win.
Last matchup: Köln win 1-0
My tip: Match draw 1-1
1899 Hoffenheim (3rd) vs Werder Bremen (11th) - Saturday: The match of the week. Hoffenheim has the problem of attacking since Vedad Ibisevic cannot play anymore this season. Demba Ba seems to be the best reliever but he is not so consistent. The defense still has lots of problems based on the position and the timing of tackle. Carlos Eduardo is still the creator of the team and he is very important to score against Werder Bremen. At the same time, Werder Bremen did very well against Bayern München last Sunday, but they lost Naldo as he had received a red card and caused him a 3-match suspension. Petri Pansenan is predicted to play as the centre back just like last match and it is still doubtful if there is any impact to the defense. Per Mertesacker is still the key player in the match as Werder Bremen needs to stop conceding goals to lead them to win. I believe this is a high scoring match and the team with better defense wins.
Last matchup: Werder Bremen win 5-4
My tip: Match draw 3-3
Borussia Mönchengladbach (18th) vs Hamburger SV (2nd) - Saturday: Gladbach seems to be improving in the recent weeks. However Hertha Berlin was too good for them so they lost the game. Marko Marin and Alexander Baumjohann are still the most important players in the team and they do hope they can rely on the home court advantage to bring a victory. However Gladbach needs the better defense in order to stop conceding goals as Hamburger are good on attacking. Hamburger was very surprising for me as they lost to Wolfsburg at home and missed the chance to be the 1st in the table again. I personally am pretty worried about them this match as their away match form is quite poor. Ivica Olic and Piotr Trochowski are the most important players in the team as they can create goals well. Marcell Jansen is another player to watch out for as his runs in left flank is very threatening. However, the poor away form drag them down. So this is the very tricky call for me and Gladbach has chance to make surprises.
Last matchup: Hamburger win 1-0
My tip: Match draw 1-1
Bayern München (5th) vs Hannover 96 (12th) - Saturday: Bayern could not convert the great form in Champions League into the league and they failed to win against Werder Bremen with 1-man advantage. Even worse, they lost to Bayer Leverkusen in the DFB Pokal. The main reason was the players were not fit and they had very few options in the squad as there was not any squad depth at all. Franck Ribery and Miroslav Klose will be very important as Luca Toni is very likely to be out of action. Also, they must defend well as they always concede goals before the score that leads them to have great pressure up front. It is quite lucky for them that they only face Hannover this week. Hannover is very poor in the away form, even though they won against Leverkusen last week, it cannot prove they are recovering in terms of form. So I still give my vote to Bayern, even they will concede goals again.
Last matchup: Hannover win 1-0
My tip: Bayern München win 3-1
Energie Cottbus (16th) vs Hertha Berlin (1st) - Saturday: Cottbus is the other team who is improving quickly. They were very careless that they lost to Bochum 3-2 last week. However, they showed their spirit and roughness to the opposition, the obvious example was the victory against Werder Bremen 2 weeks ago. So I think they can surprise Hertha Berlin this week. At the same time, Hertha Berlin is too relying on the home form but it seems they do not know how to win a game away from home. Andrei Voronin and Nicu will be the players Cottbus needs to watch out for and they are the main force to score goals. Even Hertha Berlin are very fit recently but I do not think they can win this one, as their away form is quite poor and Cottbus fighting spirit can bring Hertha Berlin trouble.
Last matchup: Cottbus win 1-0
My tip: Cottbus win 2-1
VfL Wolfsburg (4th) vs Karlsruher SC (17th) - Saturday: Wolfsburg is playing under the raider and they slowly but surely climb up to the 4th in the table. Now they are one of the title contenders. Eden Dzeko and Grafite keep improving the form and together with the solid defense from Andrea Bazagli, I personally am very confident that they can keep winning this week. Karlsurher on the other hand, I do not think they can make anything special this week as they have a very poor form recently. Also, they still cannot find the scoring formula. So they are very hard to score goals against the opposition. Even Wolfsburg lost 5-2 against Werder Bremen in DFB Pokal, Wolfsburg will not be affected and keep winning.
Last matchup: Karlsruher win 2-1
My tip: Wolfsburg win 3-0
VfB Stuttgart (7th) vs Borussia Dortmund (9th) - Saturday: Stuttgart finally had found the way to win the game, but the opposition was too weak for them. However, they are still in a good run as they are still unbeaten since the arrival of Markus Babbel. I believe their good form will keep on and they will bring lots of pressure to the opposition. On the other hand, Dortmund cannot convert their form into winning the game so they keep drawing. They have drawn 12 games out of 22 games so I believe it is very likely to draw this week. Mohamad Zidan and Nelson Valdez must pick up his form in order to break up the draw curse to win the game. The key of this game is who can break this deadlock first.
Last matchup: Dortmund win 3-0
My tip: Match draw 2-2
Arminia Bielefeld (15th) vs Eintract Frankfurt (13th) - Sunday: Bielefeid is still struggling to get the best form yet. Even Artur Wichniarek is in the good form but I do not believe he is good enough to bring the team out of trouble. I do not see there is any help from the team so if he play badly, the team will lose. On the other hand, Frankfurt did not have any motivation to win the game as they believe they are good enough to remain at the Bundesliga. So I believe this game Bielefeld will control the game and they will win this one in small margin.
Last matchup: Match draw 1-1
My tip: Bielefeld win 2-1
Bayer Leverkusen (6th) vs VfL Bochum (14th) - Sunday: Leverkusen is very inconsistent in terms of defense. They failed to win against Hannover last week and they remained at 6th position only. Manual Friedrich is out for injury for 8 weeks will hurt the team very much, as Lukas Sinkiewicz is very shaky in the defense line. I believe this is the weakest link of the team and Bochum may find some chance there. However, the victory of DFB Pokal will boost their morale very much so that I believe they still have upper hand. On the other hand, Bochum showed their toughness to beat Cottbus 3-2 last week and I believe this morale will keep on this Sunday. However, Leverkusen is too good for them to beat, so I believe Leverkusen can take all 3 points.
Last matchup: Leverkusen win 3-2
My tip: Leverkusen win 2-0
So that's it for this week! Happy weekend!
Thursday, February 26, 2009
German Bundesliga Week 22 Tipping
This week the Bundesliga had reached the 22nd match week. The title race had further heated up as Hamburger SV had reached to the top. Bayern München kept the poor league form and this Sunday they will face Werder Bremen. Last week I had 3 correct tips and there were 2 correct scores within them. Now here's my tips for this weekend:
1. FC Köln (10th) vs Arminia Bielefeld (15th) - Friday: It was very encouraging for Köln last week as they beated Bayern München 2-1. They had a solid performance and the whole team coordinated each other well. Midfielder Fabrice Ehret did very well last week and I believe he can keep on this great form this Friday. His performance can relieve a lot of pressure of Milivoje Novakovic. On the other side, the solid defense made the team success last week, and I believe this is the important factor this week, as they have to stop Bielefeld's Artur Wichniarek. Speaking to Bielefeld, they were unable to win against VfL Bochum led them to lose a chance to climb up further in the table to prevent relegation. Wichniarek again is the most important person in the team and I believe this week he has a great challenge from the opposition. The key of this match is how Köln defend. If they defend well, they will keep the excellent form.
Last matchup: Bielefeld win 2-0
My tip: Köln win 2-0
Eintract Frankfurt (12th) vs Schalke 04 (9th) - Saturday: Again, Schalke missed the chance to win last week. Kevin Kuranyi even scored the great goal last week but he was not consistent enough to carry on until the end of the match. So I cannot say he had gained back his top form as he needed to play consistently, not scoring 1 great goal in few months. The other attacking players such as Gerald Asamoah and Jefferson Farfan needed to pick up the pace again. I do not worry about their defense, as Jermain Jones has a great strength and stamina to protect the midfield defense. On the other hand, Frankfurt barely won Karlsruher SC last week and gained the important 3 points in order to stay away from the relegation. They are actually in the good position for staying away from relegation, but it is too far away for them to fight for qualifying the European matches. I believe they do not have any pressure in this match and it may bring some surprises for us.
Last matchup: Schalke win 1-0
My tip: Match draw 1-1
Hannover 96 (13th) vs Bayer Leverkusen (5th) - Saturday: Hannover started to slump down recently and they have lost to Borussia Möchengladbach 3-2. Now they are just 3 points away from the relegation so they must pick up immediately. The absence of Mikael Forsell and Jan Schlaudraff really affect the team and the attacking does not have the focus to score. On the other hand, Bayer Leverkusen were pretty inconsistent and they had missed the chance to climb up the table. Partick Helmes however is in excellent form and I believe he will keep scoring as Hannover defense is not that solid. Arturo Vidal is back from action does help the team in terms of attack and defense. Tranquillo Barnetta also helps the midfield very much so that they will outplay Hannover in the midfield. The key point of the match is if Leverkusen can control the midfield.
Last matchup: Leverkusen win 4-0
My tip: Leverkusen win 3-0
Hertha Berlin (3rd) vs Borussia Möchengladbach (18th) - Saturday: Hertha Berlin was as same as Leverkusen, they missed the chance to climb back to the top of the table as they lost VfL Wolfsburg 2-1. Andrei Voronin was the key person of the team, but when he was frozen, Hertha Berlin did not have any players to relieve him. So this is the importance of Marko Pantelic. On the other hand, Gladbach did a very great job to beat Hannover, but sadly they are still far away to get away from the relegation trouble. This is a morale boosting for them and I think they morality can hold on Hertha Berlin a while. However, Hertha Berlin had won 7 home games in a row so this time Gladbach cannot get away with a point either.
Last matchup: Hertha Berlin win 1-0
My tip: Hertha Berlin win 3-0
Borussia Dortmund (8th) vs 1899 Hoffenheim (2nd) - Saturday: Dortmund had shown how tough they could be as they had drawn Schalke 1-1. The whole team now are depending on the morality and group discipline to carry on the match. However, the individual players are not in top form, such as Nelson Valdez and Alexander Frei. They always failed to finish the game so that they kept drawing. On the other hand, Hoffenheim was still struggling the absence of Vedad Ibisevic, even though Demba Ba was the man last week to hold on a draw against VfB Stuttgart. Sejad Salihovic and Carlos Eduardo will be very important for them in the match to fight against Dortmund. I believe this match will be decided by the attacking finishing.
Last matchup: Dortmund win 4-1
My tip: Match draw 2-2
VfL Bochum (16th) vs Energie Cottbus (14th) - Saturday: Bochum last week failed to win and as same as last week's opponent, Bielefeld, missed the chance to climb up the table. They need to work hard to get back in form. Diego Klimowicz and Vlad Munteanu do not have much influence to the team, so that the team is still in trouble. On the other hand, Cottbus did a very good job to beat Werder Bremen. It is very encouraging for the team that they can get away from the relegation trouble. Same as last season, Cottbus pick up the form after the winter break and the attacking and defense are keep improving. So I believe this match Cottbus can et a draw or even a win.
Last matchup: Match draw 1-1
My tip: Match draw 1-1
Werder Bremen (11th) vs Bayern München (4th) - Sunday: Both teams are having trouble in the league. So it can be said that it is bad versus worse. Werder Bremen was yet to win the match and they desperately need one. The surprise loss against Cottbus last week led them dropped to 11th already. Claudio Pizarro did not play last week due to discipline problem. Now he is back to action and Werder Bremen hope him can bring the team out of trouble. Diego is still the other man to watch out for as his creativeness does assist the team very much. On the other hand, Bayern München was lucky that they could hold on the 4-point difference from the top of table as every close rival had lost points. Their playing style led the team kept making errors so that they had lost 3 games out of 4. They must win this match even it is quite hard for them. It was a huge boost for them that they had won Sporting Lisbon 5-0 away from home in Champions League. Still, Franck Ribery is the most important player so that his performance is the key of the match.
Last matchup: Werder Bremen win 5-2
My tip: Bayern München win 2-1
Hamburger SV (1st) vs VfL Wolfsburg (6th) - Sunday: Hamburger was the only team to take all 3 points last week within all the title challenging team. So they reached at the top of the table with 2 points leading. This is absolutely the great moment for them as their effort is fully deserved to be at the top. Piotr Trochowski is very important player now for Hamburger as he connects the team attack very well. Marcell Jansen had started to gain back the best from in Borussia Möchengladbach 2 seasons ago. His pace is definitely the great asset in the team. On the other side, Wolfsburg also did a great job to beat Hertha Berlin last week and they had reached 6th in the table. However, the difference between the home form and away form is too large so that I do not believe Wolfsburg can stop Hamburger, even Eden Dzeko and Grafite are in top form.
Last matchup: Wolfsburg win 3-0
My tip: Hamburger win 2-0
Karlsruher SC (17th) vs VfB Stuttgart (7th) - Sunday: Karlsruher still cannot get away from the trouble. They lost Frankfurt 1-0 last week. Their attacking is the main trouble of the team and Giovani Federico cannot help the team in attacking at all. So even Marco Engelhardt did well in the team, his influence only limited in the midfield defense as the team does not have any player to finish his play. I believe Karlsruher will keep slumping in the coming weeks. Stuttgart at the same time, their match form starts to slide down as they have drawn 2 matches in a row. The defense suddenly lost concentration in these 2 matches so Stuttgart needed to fight hard to hold out of draw. Mario Gomez is very good in the match form so I believe he will get some scores in this match as Karlsruher does not play well in defense. The key of the match is if Stuttgart can keep the possession well to lead them to win.
Last matchup: Stuttgart win 3-1
My tip: Stuttgart win 3-0
So this is it! Happy weekend!
1. FC Köln (10th) vs Arminia Bielefeld (15th) - Friday: It was very encouraging for Köln last week as they beated Bayern München 2-1. They had a solid performance and the whole team coordinated each other well. Midfielder Fabrice Ehret did very well last week and I believe he can keep on this great form this Friday. His performance can relieve a lot of pressure of Milivoje Novakovic. On the other side, the solid defense made the team success last week, and I believe this is the important factor this week, as they have to stop Bielefeld's Artur Wichniarek. Speaking to Bielefeld, they were unable to win against VfL Bochum led them to lose a chance to climb up further in the table to prevent relegation. Wichniarek again is the most important person in the team and I believe this week he has a great challenge from the opposition. The key of this match is how Köln defend. If they defend well, they will keep the excellent form.
Last matchup: Bielefeld win 2-0
My tip: Köln win 2-0
Eintract Frankfurt (12th) vs Schalke 04 (9th) - Saturday: Again, Schalke missed the chance to win last week. Kevin Kuranyi even scored the great goal last week but he was not consistent enough to carry on until the end of the match. So I cannot say he had gained back his top form as he needed to play consistently, not scoring 1 great goal in few months. The other attacking players such as Gerald Asamoah and Jefferson Farfan needed to pick up the pace again. I do not worry about their defense, as Jermain Jones has a great strength and stamina to protect the midfield defense. On the other hand, Frankfurt barely won Karlsruher SC last week and gained the important 3 points in order to stay away from the relegation. They are actually in the good position for staying away from relegation, but it is too far away for them to fight for qualifying the European matches. I believe they do not have any pressure in this match and it may bring some surprises for us.
Last matchup: Schalke win 1-0
My tip: Match draw 1-1
Hannover 96 (13th) vs Bayer Leverkusen (5th) - Saturday: Hannover started to slump down recently and they have lost to Borussia Möchengladbach 3-2. Now they are just 3 points away from the relegation so they must pick up immediately. The absence of Mikael Forsell and Jan Schlaudraff really affect the team and the attacking does not have the focus to score. On the other hand, Bayer Leverkusen were pretty inconsistent and they had missed the chance to climb up the table. Partick Helmes however is in excellent form and I believe he will keep scoring as Hannover defense is not that solid. Arturo Vidal is back from action does help the team in terms of attack and defense. Tranquillo Barnetta also helps the midfield very much so that they will outplay Hannover in the midfield. The key point of the match is if Leverkusen can control the midfield.
Last matchup: Leverkusen win 4-0
My tip: Leverkusen win 3-0
Hertha Berlin (3rd) vs Borussia Möchengladbach (18th) - Saturday: Hertha Berlin was as same as Leverkusen, they missed the chance to climb back to the top of the table as they lost VfL Wolfsburg 2-1. Andrei Voronin was the key person of the team, but when he was frozen, Hertha Berlin did not have any players to relieve him. So this is the importance of Marko Pantelic. On the other hand, Gladbach did a very great job to beat Hannover, but sadly they are still far away to get away from the relegation trouble. This is a morale boosting for them and I think they morality can hold on Hertha Berlin a while. However, Hertha Berlin had won 7 home games in a row so this time Gladbach cannot get away with a point either.
Last matchup: Hertha Berlin win 1-0
My tip: Hertha Berlin win 3-0
Borussia Dortmund (8th) vs 1899 Hoffenheim (2nd) - Saturday: Dortmund had shown how tough they could be as they had drawn Schalke 1-1. The whole team now are depending on the morality and group discipline to carry on the match. However, the individual players are not in top form, such as Nelson Valdez and Alexander Frei. They always failed to finish the game so that they kept drawing. On the other hand, Hoffenheim was still struggling the absence of Vedad Ibisevic, even though Demba Ba was the man last week to hold on a draw against VfB Stuttgart. Sejad Salihovic and Carlos Eduardo will be very important for them in the match to fight against Dortmund. I believe this match will be decided by the attacking finishing.
Last matchup: Dortmund win 4-1
My tip: Match draw 2-2
VfL Bochum (16th) vs Energie Cottbus (14th) - Saturday: Bochum last week failed to win and as same as last week's opponent, Bielefeld, missed the chance to climb up the table. They need to work hard to get back in form. Diego Klimowicz and Vlad Munteanu do not have much influence to the team, so that the team is still in trouble. On the other hand, Cottbus did a very good job to beat Werder Bremen. It is very encouraging for the team that they can get away from the relegation trouble. Same as last season, Cottbus pick up the form after the winter break and the attacking and defense are keep improving. So I believe this match Cottbus can et a draw or even a win.
Last matchup: Match draw 1-1
My tip: Match draw 1-1
Werder Bremen (11th) vs Bayern München (4th) - Sunday: Both teams are having trouble in the league. So it can be said that it is bad versus worse. Werder Bremen was yet to win the match and they desperately need one. The surprise loss against Cottbus last week led them dropped to 11th already. Claudio Pizarro did not play last week due to discipline problem. Now he is back to action and Werder Bremen hope him can bring the team out of trouble. Diego is still the other man to watch out for as his creativeness does assist the team very much. On the other hand, Bayern München was lucky that they could hold on the 4-point difference from the top of table as every close rival had lost points. Their playing style led the team kept making errors so that they had lost 3 games out of 4. They must win this match even it is quite hard for them. It was a huge boost for them that they had won Sporting Lisbon 5-0 away from home in Champions League. Still, Franck Ribery is the most important player so that his performance is the key of the match.
Last matchup: Werder Bremen win 5-2
My tip: Bayern München win 2-1
Hamburger SV (1st) vs VfL Wolfsburg (6th) - Sunday: Hamburger was the only team to take all 3 points last week within all the title challenging team. So they reached at the top of the table with 2 points leading. This is absolutely the great moment for them as their effort is fully deserved to be at the top. Piotr Trochowski is very important player now for Hamburger as he connects the team attack very well. Marcell Jansen had started to gain back the best from in Borussia Möchengladbach 2 seasons ago. His pace is definitely the great asset in the team. On the other side, Wolfsburg also did a great job to beat Hertha Berlin last week and they had reached 6th in the table. However, the difference between the home form and away form is too large so that I do not believe Wolfsburg can stop Hamburger, even Eden Dzeko and Grafite are in top form.
Last matchup: Wolfsburg win 3-0
My tip: Hamburger win 2-0
Karlsruher SC (17th) vs VfB Stuttgart (7th) - Sunday: Karlsruher still cannot get away from the trouble. They lost Frankfurt 1-0 last week. Their attacking is the main trouble of the team and Giovani Federico cannot help the team in attacking at all. So even Marco Engelhardt did well in the team, his influence only limited in the midfield defense as the team does not have any player to finish his play. I believe Karlsruher will keep slumping in the coming weeks. Stuttgart at the same time, their match form starts to slide down as they have drawn 2 matches in a row. The defense suddenly lost concentration in these 2 matches so Stuttgart needed to fight hard to hold out of draw. Mario Gomez is very good in the match form so I believe he will get some scores in this match as Karlsruher does not play well in defense. The key of the match is if Stuttgart can keep the possession well to lead them to win.
Last matchup: Stuttgart win 3-1
My tip: Stuttgart win 3-0
So this is it! Happy weekend!
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
German Bundesliga Week 21 Tipping
This weekend German Bundesliga has reached 21st match week. The title race has been further heated up as Hertha Berlin has reached to the top. There are only 4 points different between 1st to 5th in the table. Hertha Berlin, Hoffenheim, Leverkusen, and Hamburger are facing the great challenge while Bayern München is facing a relatively easy challenge. Now here's the tip of this week:
Schalke 04 (9th) vs Borussia Dortmund (8th) - Friday: A Ruhr derby starts this match week. Schalke is quite surprising for me that they lost to Bochum last Saturday. Their attacking problem again made the team down. Jefferson Farfan did not contribute at all and Ivan Rakitic had not reached his peak form yet. Plus, since Fabien Ernst had left for good, the midfield defense had been weakened. Borussia Dortmund at the same time their attacking form had reached their low. Alexander Frei and Nelson Valdez could not help the team to win against Energie Cottbus even. The key of this match is how they finish the attack. A low scoring draw is predicted as both of them cannot convert the attack into goals well.
Last matchup: Match draw 3-3
My tip: Match draw 1-1
Energie Cottbus (16th) vs Werder Bremen (10th) - Saturday: Energie Cottbus seemed they were improving in a solid way. They had 4 game points in last 3 games led them to crawl back up of the table. The new signings had helped the team to improve, at least the team became more competitive in attacking and looked more solid in defense. Even this time they face Werder Bremen, I believe they can push them to the limit. Werder Bremen at the same time they were in poor form in Bundesliga. They only had 1 game point in 3 games, it mainly was because the absence of Diego and Claudio Pizarro. This match they will be back to action so there are more variety and creativity in attack. However, their defense keeps making fans worried as they lack of discipline. Per Mertesacker cannot lead the defense line, and the side backs cannot do their job. This match I believe it will be a draw as Cottbus can hold on.
Last matchup: Werder Bremen win 3-0
My tip: Match draw 1-1
Borussia Möchengladbach (18th) vs Hannover 96 (12th) - Saturday: Gladbach seemed they have improve their performance slowly, but is it too late for them now? It seems 1 point is not enough for them in the match and they must keep winning. Rob Friend still cannot find his form now, so Alexander Baumjohann and Marko Marin are the most important players in attack. Tomas Galasek will be the most important player in defense. The only hope of Gladbach now is keeping the high morale and pray for the miracle. Hannover on the other hand they lose their morality. However, they can picked up the morality on time as they snatched a draw against Stuttgart last week. Jan Schlaudraff is rated doubtful and Mikael Forssell will be very important now. They key of this match is who has higher morale.
Last matchup: Hannover win 5-1
My tip: Möchengladbach win 2-1
Karlsruher SC (17th) vs Eintract Frankfurt (13th) - Saturday: Karlsruher last week were unable to score goal and held out a draw. They are still in the cold streak even they won against Hamburger 2 weeks ago. Marco Engelhardt is still suspended this match so the midfield defense is their weakest link still. Sebatian Freis at the same time he will be the most important player in this match as he is the main source of the goal scorin. Frankfurt on the other hand they lost their morality and they even lost to Wolfsburg at home. They must pick up the morality on time as they are not safe from relegation yet. I believe this match will end up with draw because I cannot see any of them are able to win the match and they will cancel each other out.
Last matchup: Frankfurt win 2-1
My tip: Match draw 1-1
VfL Wolfsburg (6th) vs Hertha Berlin (1st) - Saturday: Wolfsburg is pretty surprising for me that they won away from home last week. Eden Dzeko keeps the great form in the league, even they have lost to PSG in UEFA Cup. This week they are back at home, I believe their performance will significantly improve and bring lots of threats to Hertha Berlin. Zvjezdan Misimovic will be the most important midfielder and I believe he can break through the Hertha Berlin defense. On the other hand, it is very encouraging for Hertha Berlin to beat Bayern München and reached to the top last week. Andrej Voronin is very fit recently so Marko Pantelic is not that important now. Solid defense is the key success for Hertha Berlin this season and I believe they can hang on in this match. However, the away form of Hertha Berlin is not that good, including a draw against Armina Bielefeld. So I believe it is not as easy as Hertha Berlin think in this match.
Last matchup: Match draw 2-2
My tip: Wolfsburg win 2-1
VfB Stuttgart (7th) vs 1899 Hoffenheim (2nd) - Saturday: Stuttgart recent form has been slip a bit, but they can still manage to hang on. Mario Gomez keeps a steady form and it helps the team to maintain their performance. However, he does not have any reliable partner to relieve his pressure. So when he is frozen, the Stuttgart attack will be in trouble. However, Hoffenheim had shown the effect of the absence of Vedad Ibisevic. Without the constant attacking spot, they had been comprehensively beaten by Bayer Leverkusen 4-1 last week. Boubacar Sanogo was absolutely useless in the team and only Carlos Eduardo and Demba Ba can perform. The defense seems not to improve so well since the arrival of Timo Hildebrand. Furthermore, Hoffenheim cannot perform and lost 5 of the 7 major top clashes so far (i.e., lost to Bayern, lost to Leverkusen twice, lost to Werder Bremen, and lost to Hertha Berlin). So I believe Stuttgart has the advantage to win the game.
Last matchup: Match draw 0-0
My tip: Stuttgart win 2-0
Bayern München (4th) vs 1. FC Köln (11th) - Saturday: Bayern last week was significantly affected by the international matchday so the team did not power up and lost to Hertha Berlin and missed the great chance to get to the top of table. However, it is a bless that they face the easiest challenge within the major title contender this week. Franck Ribery and Ze Roberto will be the most important players in the team and Miroslav Klose can pick up his form on time. Luca Toni will be most likely out of action this match but the team make it very clear that Lukas Podolski will play this match. I do not think the attack has any problem and the major concern is still the defense. On the other hand, Köln cannot maintain their performance week by week and I think they will be outclassed by Bayern. Milivoje Novakovic will be the only hope for the team to make surprises to fans. Also, the midfield and the defense are believed to be outclassed by Bayern. So I believe Bayern can control the midfield flow and win this match.
Last matchup: Bayern win 3-0
My tip: Bayern win 4-1
Arminia Bielefeld (14th) vs VfL Bochum (15th) - Saturday: This is the most important relegation fight in this week. Both teams only have a point difference and both teams have the similar form. Bielefeld had lost to Hamburger last Sunday but they still kept the good form 2 weeks ago. Artur Wichniarek is the most important player in this match, but he is rated doubtful this week so if he cannot play or he is not in form, it will hurt the team very much. On the other hand, Bochum had a wonderful victory against Schalke that did significantly improve their morale. Diego Klimowicz and Vlad Munteanu are starting to bring some positive impact to the team and they will bring a lot of threats to Bielefeld. However, considering Bielefeld have the home court advantage, Bielefeld can snatch a draw even the absence of Wichniarek will impact the team.
Last matchup: Bochum win 2-0
My tip: Match draw 1-1
Bayer Leverkusen (5th) vs Hamburger SV (3rd) - Sunday: Bayer Leverkusen last week had picked up the form in style which comprehensively beaten Hoffenheim 4-1. Partick Helmes is in great form and he is the most important player in the team. Captain Simon Rolfes is also important as his strength and stamina can connect the team very well. The concern is Arturo Vidal is still suspended but Thomas Zdebel and Renato Augusto can take his job well. Henrique is back to the starting lineup so it is a great relieve to Leverkusen defense. On the other hand, Hamburger did well last week which they beated Bielefeld 2-0. Ivica Olic is back just in time as Mlaten Petric is still suspended. Piotr Trochowski will be another important player who needs to watch out. However, the poor away form makes the team has trouble in this match. So I think Leverkusen can win this one.
Last matchup: Hamburger win 3-2
My tip: Leverkusen win 3-1
So that's it! Have a good weekend!
Schalke 04 (9th) vs Borussia Dortmund (8th) - Friday: A Ruhr derby starts this match week. Schalke is quite surprising for me that they lost to Bochum last Saturday. Their attacking problem again made the team down. Jefferson Farfan did not contribute at all and Ivan Rakitic had not reached his peak form yet. Plus, since Fabien Ernst had left for good, the midfield defense had been weakened. Borussia Dortmund at the same time their attacking form had reached their low. Alexander Frei and Nelson Valdez could not help the team to win against Energie Cottbus even. The key of this match is how they finish the attack. A low scoring draw is predicted as both of them cannot convert the attack into goals well.
Last matchup: Match draw 3-3
My tip: Match draw 1-1
Energie Cottbus (16th) vs Werder Bremen (10th) - Saturday: Energie Cottbus seemed they were improving in a solid way. They had 4 game points in last 3 games led them to crawl back up of the table. The new signings had helped the team to improve, at least the team became more competitive in attacking and looked more solid in defense. Even this time they face Werder Bremen, I believe they can push them to the limit. Werder Bremen at the same time they were in poor form in Bundesliga. They only had 1 game point in 3 games, it mainly was because the absence of Diego and Claudio Pizarro. This match they will be back to action so there are more variety and creativity in attack. However, their defense keeps making fans worried as they lack of discipline. Per Mertesacker cannot lead the defense line, and the side backs cannot do their job. This match I believe it will be a draw as Cottbus can hold on.
Last matchup: Werder Bremen win 3-0
My tip: Match draw 1-1
Borussia Möchengladbach (18th) vs Hannover 96 (12th) - Saturday: Gladbach seemed they have improve their performance slowly, but is it too late for them now? It seems 1 point is not enough for them in the match and they must keep winning. Rob Friend still cannot find his form now, so Alexander Baumjohann and Marko Marin are the most important players in attack. Tomas Galasek will be the most important player in defense. The only hope of Gladbach now is keeping the high morale and pray for the miracle. Hannover on the other hand they lose their morality. However, they can picked up the morality on time as they snatched a draw against Stuttgart last week. Jan Schlaudraff is rated doubtful and Mikael Forssell will be very important now. They key of this match is who has higher morale.
Last matchup: Hannover win 5-1
My tip: Möchengladbach win 2-1
Karlsruher SC (17th) vs Eintract Frankfurt (13th) - Saturday: Karlsruher last week were unable to score goal and held out a draw. They are still in the cold streak even they won against Hamburger 2 weeks ago. Marco Engelhardt is still suspended this match so the midfield defense is their weakest link still. Sebatian Freis at the same time he will be the most important player in this match as he is the main source of the goal scorin. Frankfurt on the other hand they lost their morality and they even lost to Wolfsburg at home. They must pick up the morality on time as they are not safe from relegation yet. I believe this match will end up with draw because I cannot see any of them are able to win the match and they will cancel each other out.
Last matchup: Frankfurt win 2-1
My tip: Match draw 1-1
VfL Wolfsburg (6th) vs Hertha Berlin (1st) - Saturday: Wolfsburg is pretty surprising for me that they won away from home last week. Eden Dzeko keeps the great form in the league, even they have lost to PSG in UEFA Cup. This week they are back at home, I believe their performance will significantly improve and bring lots of threats to Hertha Berlin. Zvjezdan Misimovic will be the most important midfielder and I believe he can break through the Hertha Berlin defense. On the other hand, it is very encouraging for Hertha Berlin to beat Bayern München and reached to the top last week. Andrej Voronin is very fit recently so Marko Pantelic is not that important now. Solid defense is the key success for Hertha Berlin this season and I believe they can hang on in this match. However, the away form of Hertha Berlin is not that good, including a draw against Armina Bielefeld. So I believe it is not as easy as Hertha Berlin think in this match.
Last matchup: Match draw 2-2
My tip: Wolfsburg win 2-1
VfB Stuttgart (7th) vs 1899 Hoffenheim (2nd) - Saturday: Stuttgart recent form has been slip a bit, but they can still manage to hang on. Mario Gomez keeps a steady form and it helps the team to maintain their performance. However, he does not have any reliable partner to relieve his pressure. So when he is frozen, the Stuttgart attack will be in trouble. However, Hoffenheim had shown the effect of the absence of Vedad Ibisevic. Without the constant attacking spot, they had been comprehensively beaten by Bayer Leverkusen 4-1 last week. Boubacar Sanogo was absolutely useless in the team and only Carlos Eduardo and Demba Ba can perform. The defense seems not to improve so well since the arrival of Timo Hildebrand. Furthermore, Hoffenheim cannot perform and lost 5 of the 7 major top clashes so far (i.e., lost to Bayern, lost to Leverkusen twice, lost to Werder Bremen, and lost to Hertha Berlin). So I believe Stuttgart has the advantage to win the game.
Last matchup: Match draw 0-0
My tip: Stuttgart win 2-0
Bayern München (4th) vs 1. FC Köln (11th) - Saturday: Bayern last week was significantly affected by the international matchday so the team did not power up and lost to Hertha Berlin and missed the great chance to get to the top of table. However, it is a bless that they face the easiest challenge within the major title contender this week. Franck Ribery and Ze Roberto will be the most important players in the team and Miroslav Klose can pick up his form on time. Luca Toni will be most likely out of action this match but the team make it very clear that Lukas Podolski will play this match. I do not think the attack has any problem and the major concern is still the defense. On the other hand, Köln cannot maintain their performance week by week and I think they will be outclassed by Bayern. Milivoje Novakovic will be the only hope for the team to make surprises to fans. Also, the midfield and the defense are believed to be outclassed by Bayern. So I believe Bayern can control the midfield flow and win this match.
Last matchup: Bayern win 3-0
My tip: Bayern win 4-1
Arminia Bielefeld (14th) vs VfL Bochum (15th) - Saturday: This is the most important relegation fight in this week. Both teams only have a point difference and both teams have the similar form. Bielefeld had lost to Hamburger last Sunday but they still kept the good form 2 weeks ago. Artur Wichniarek is the most important player in this match, but he is rated doubtful this week so if he cannot play or he is not in form, it will hurt the team very much. On the other hand, Bochum had a wonderful victory against Schalke that did significantly improve their morale. Diego Klimowicz and Vlad Munteanu are starting to bring some positive impact to the team and they will bring a lot of threats to Bielefeld. However, considering Bielefeld have the home court advantage, Bielefeld can snatch a draw even the absence of Wichniarek will impact the team.
Last matchup: Bochum win 2-0
My tip: Match draw 1-1
Bayer Leverkusen (5th) vs Hamburger SV (3rd) - Sunday: Bayer Leverkusen last week had picked up the form in style which comprehensively beaten Hoffenheim 4-1. Partick Helmes is in great form and he is the most important player in the team. Captain Simon Rolfes is also important as his strength and stamina can connect the team very well. The concern is Arturo Vidal is still suspended but Thomas Zdebel and Renato Augusto can take his job well. Henrique is back to the starting lineup so it is a great relieve to Leverkusen defense. On the other hand, Hamburger did well last week which they beated Bielefeld 2-0. Ivica Olic is back just in time as Mlaten Petric is still suspended. Piotr Trochowski will be another important player who needs to watch out. However, the poor away form makes the team has trouble in this match. So I think Leverkusen can win this one.
Last matchup: Hamburger win 3-2
My tip: Leverkusen win 3-1
So that's it! Have a good weekend!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
