Hannover 96– Bayer Leverkusen
AWD Arena
Saturday, 5th December 2009 – kickoff 15:30

Hannover 96

After the tragic death of their goalkeeper Robert Enke, Hannover have lost two straight games against Schalke and in the last round they have lost the match against Bayern Munich.

It will take some time until this team is back to normal where they can think only about football and their next opponent.

Now they will face a tough task playing with the most serious title contender so far. The new captain Arnold Bruggink will have a big burden on his shoulders as well as their new goalkeeper Florian Fromlowitz to lead this team during the Bundesliga campaign to avoid the last three spots on the table.

Hannover are now twelfth in the table and four points above the drop zone. Their new coach Andreas Bergmann this season has a record of four wins, three draws and five defeats, after the departure of their previous coach Dieter Hecking at the beginning of the season.

Despite losses in the previous rounds, Hannover plays an open football with two attackers up front - Didier Ya Konan and Stajner who have scored half of the Hannover`s 16 goals so far.

Only the defender Vinicius is injured and out of the team for this match.

Probable Hannover 96 line-up :
Fromlowitz
Cherundolo, Haggui, Schulz, Rausch,
Balitsch, Rosenthal, Djakpa , Bruggink
Stajner, Ya Konan

Bayer Leverkusen

Bayer Leverkusen are in fantastic form, they are still the only unbeaten team in the Bundesliga and in the last round they trashed Stuttgart 4-0 at home. The league best striker Stefan Kiessling scored a hat-trick on that match.

Bayer Leverkusen are on fourteen matches undefeated streak and if they avoid defeat in the next three rounds they will join Bayern Munich and Hamburger SV as a third team in the Bundesliga history that has gone without defeat in the first part of the season.

Not only the attack is good, but the team also has the best defense in the league with only nine goals conceded so far.

Central defender Manuel Friedrich could miss this match due to a bruised calf, but he resumed with trainings on Thursday so is yet to be seen will he be in the starting eleven or not.

Probable Bayer Leverkusen line-up :
Adler
Schwaab, Friedrich, Hyypiä,
Castro , Vidal, Reinartz, Barnetta, Kroos,
Kiessling,Derdiyok

The Betting Verdict

Hannover managed to beat Leverkusen last season at home for the second time in history.

However, the team is still shaken and they have not scored in the last two matches. On the other hand, Bayer are full of confidence and eager to continue with their good run and i expect them to finish the job in Hannover and get another three points.

The Statistics :

The Pick :

Hannover 96-Bayer Leverkusen 1-2

FIXED ODDS BETTING :

Away win for Bayer Leverkusen (main bet)

and also consider Stefan Kiessling to score anytime