Teams | February 28, 2014 at 12:35 PM
First home win of 2014?
First home win of 2014?
Hertha BSC hope to record their first home win of 2014 on Friday night (28.02.14) against SC Freiburg at the Olympic stadium.
Berlin - Hertha BSC improved their points tally to 34 by beating VfB Stuttgart away last time out. That win took the capital city side up to 7th in the Bundesliga table and they have more points ahead of their matchday 23 home game against Freiburg more points than they had in the whole of their last season in the top flight. While Hertha are enjoying a superb season after winning Bundesliga 2 last season, Friday's visitors to the capital city are to be found in the lower regions of the Bundesliga table. On Friday night (28.02.14, 8.30 pm) the boys from the Black Forest will be desperate to improve their plight which has seen them slump to 17th in the table.
Home coach Jos Luhukay can almost pick the same side which won in Stuttgart on matchday 22. Captain Fabian Lustenberger is still missing, but playmaker Alexander Baumjohann is on the mend after resuming training this week. He will not feature in Friday's match though. Per Skjelbred has recovered from a virus and is expected to play after missing out last weekend. Top scorer Adrian Ramos (14 goals) missed training earlier in the week with a bruised calf, but is in the squad for the visit of Freiburg. One striker not in contention is Sandro Wagner, who was sent off moments after scoring the winner in the 2-1 victory in Stuttgart and is suspended for one game.
Consolidate good position
Hertha are doing fine at the moment. Sitting pretty in 7th spot the team are third in the Bundesliga away table - which tells the story of how the season has gone so far. They have not been as successful at home recently. Despite decent performances at the Olympic stadium they have been to harmless in front of goal. Luhukay: "We have been on top especially in many of our home games, but have not been efficient enough in front of goal. Away from home we have made more from fewer chances." 34 points at this stage of the season is a comfortable place to be in, but now that form has to be consolidated against Freiburg.
Freiburg are understandably becoming more nervous after losing their last two games, conceding eight goals in all. Okay anyone can lost 0-4 away to treble winners Bayern Munich. But last weekend they lost 2-4 against Augsburg. Freiburg fought back to 2-1 after going a goal down, only to conceded three goals late on in the game. Freiburg coach Christian Streich said after the loss to Augsburg: “After we took the lead we had something to lose and the nerves came into play.”
Lot of effort for little reward
"It will be difficult, very difficult", said Freiburg's most dangerous striker Admir Mehmedi after their unnecessary defeat against Augsburg last time out. After exiting the Europa League and the DFB Cup Freiburg can now concentrate on Bundesliga survival. Their stats reveal that they are weak in the tackle and often fail to get a telling pass to the men in the final third. After having to sell (and not replace) key duo Max Kruse and Daniel Caliguiri last summer, their captain Julian Schuster sent a positive signal by extending his contract at the club. During the winter break Freiburg signed Austrian striker Philipp Zulechner.
Possible line-ups:
Hertha BSC: Kraft – van den Bergh, Kobiashvili, Langkamp, Pekarik – Hosogai, Cigerci – Schulz, Skjelbred, Allagui – Ramos
SC Freiburg: Baumann – Günter, Höhn, Krmas, Sorg – Klaus, Ginter, Fernandes, Schmid – Mehmedi, Darida
Home coach Jos Luhukay can almost pick the same side which won in Stuttgart on matchday 22. Captain Fabian Lustenberger is still missing, but playmaker Alexander Baumjohann is on the mend after resuming training this week. He will not feature in Friday's match though. Per Skjelbred has recovered from a virus and is expected to play after missing out last weekend. Top scorer Adrian Ramos (14 goals) missed training earlier in the week with a bruised calf, but is in the squad for the visit of Freiburg. One striker not in contention is Sandro Wagner, who was sent off moments after scoring the winner in the 2-1 victory in Stuttgart and is suspended for one game.
Consolidate good position
Hertha are doing fine at the moment. Sitting pretty in 7th spot the team are third in the Bundesliga away table - which tells the story of how the season has gone so far. They have not been as successful at home recently. Despite decent performances at the Olympic stadium they have been to harmless in front of goal. Luhukay: "We have been on top especially in many of our home games, but have not been efficient enough in front of goal. Away from home we have made more from fewer chances." 34 points at this stage of the season is a comfortable place to be in, but now that form has to be consolidated against Freiburg.
Freiburg are understandably becoming more nervous after losing their last two games, conceding eight goals in all. Okay anyone can lost 0-4 away to treble winners Bayern Munich. But last weekend they lost 2-4 against Augsburg. Freiburg fought back to 2-1 after going a goal down, only to conceded three goals late on in the game. Freiburg coach Christian Streich said after the loss to Augsburg: “After we took the lead we had something to lose and the nerves came into play.”
Lot of effort for little reward
"It will be difficult, very difficult", said Freiburg's most dangerous striker Admir Mehmedi after their unnecessary defeat against Augsburg last time out. After exiting the Europa League and the DFB Cup Freiburg can now concentrate on Bundesliga survival. Their stats reveal that they are weak in the tackle and often fail to get a telling pass to the men in the final third. After having to sell (and not replace) key duo Max Kruse and Daniel Caliguiri last summer, their captain Julian Schuster sent a positive signal by extending his contract at the club. During the winter break Freiburg signed Austrian striker Philipp Zulechner.
Possible line-ups:
Hertha BSC: Kraft – van den Bergh, Kobiashvili, Langkamp, Pekarik – Hosogai, Cigerci – Schulz, Skjelbred, Allagui – Ramos
SC Freiburg: Baumann – Günter, Höhn, Krmas, Sorg – Klaus, Ginter, Fernandes, Schmid – Mehmedi, Darida