German Bundesliga
2010-12-11 - 1899 Hoffenheim vs FC Nurnberg
A Sports Betting Pick by Niko
Football ; Germany : Bundesliga
Rhein Neckar Arena
Saturday, 11th December 2010 – kickoff 15:30
1899 Hoffenheim
1899 Hoffenheim are doing good this season and are currently sixth at the table with a season goal for European qualification. However, although they are ranked high at the table, 1899 Hoffenheim have managed only one win in the last five league matches ( two draws and two losses).
Last weekend they took the lead against Vfb Stuttgart, but could not hold on to the end and were held to 1-1 draw.
For this match 1899 Hoffenheim will play without the defender Isaac Vorsah who picked up a red card in the last match and received a two match ban.
Interesting fact is that no other team had scored more goals in the first half than 1899 Hoffenheim (14 goals scored in the first half this season).
1899 Hoffenheim play in a very offensive formation with the strikers Vedad Ibisevic and Demba Ba but also Sejad Salihovic and Sigurdsson have offensive role from the midfield.
Probable 1899 Hoffenheim line-up :
Beck, Luiz Gustavo, Compper, Ibertsberger,
Vukcevic, Rudy, Salihovic, Sigurdsson,
Ibisevic, Ba
FC Nurnberg
FC Nurnberg, as expected, started dropping down at the table and are currently on a negative run of four straight losses, and each of those four losses came with at least two goals difference.
Maybe the winter break will bring some changes in this team as they are struggling a lot with bad defending and in the last five away games also FC Nurnberg conceded at least two goals. The last two away matches for FC Nurnberg ended in two identical 3-0 losses.
FC Nurnberg are also holding the longest streak in the Bundesliga for conceding goals as they have conceded at least one goal in each of the last eleven Bundesliga matches.
For this match, coach Dieter Hecking can not count on Javier Pinola who has one match left to sit out for his suspension. Also Robert Mak, Juri Judt and Mike Frantz returned back to training this last week, but Robert Mak will be at the bench for this match.
Probable FC Nurnberg line-up :
Judt, Maroh, Wolf, Plattenhardt,
Simons,
Hegeler, Cohen, Gundogan, Frantz,
Schieber
The Betting Verdict
1899 Hoffenheim and FC Nurnberg have met only three times in the Bundesliga so far with 1899 Hoffenheim winning twice and one match ended in a draw. Also 1899 Hoffenheim had not conceded a single goal in those three encounters.
1899 Hoffenheim are clear favorites in this match and i expect them to get all three points and finally end their winless streak of five matches.
FC Nurnberg will come to defend, and having on mind their poor defending i can not see anything other than a nice home win for 1899 Hoffenheim.
The Statistics :
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Pick :
1899 Hoffenheim-FC Nurnberg 3-1
