Teams | April 19, 2014 at 05:06 PM
Tough task in Augsburg
Tough task in Augsburg
Captain Fabian Lustenberger has made the squad for the trip to FC Augsburg on Saturday (19.04.14).
Berlin - Both sides are in a relatively comfortable situation at the moment. While FC Augsburg have recorded their best ever Bundesliga points tally (42), Hertha are in mid-table following their superb opening half of the season. Neither team has had much success lately though. Hertha are on an eight game winless run - their last win was away to Stuttgart and Augsburg have only won one of their last six games - albeit against all-conquering Bayern Munich. They have lost four and drawn one recently. So both teams are keen to start a winning run at the SGL-Arena on Saturday afternoon.
Not much has changed since Hertha lost in Leverkusen last weekend. Top scorer Adrian Ramos is still sidelined after colliding with Hoffenheim keeper Koen Casteels two weeks ago. Defender Levan Kobiashvili has an ankle problem and has not travelled with the squad. Happily captain Fabian Lustenberger is on the verge of making his long-awaited comeback. Hertha boss Jos Luhukay: "He has trained without any problems for the last ten days. Maybe he will be firt for Saturday. I am certainly going to ask him."
Searching for success
"It will be a tough match for us but could also be a key game. We want to battle our way back to success in order to end the season in a positive manner", says midfielder Per Skjelbred. "There is no better medicine for a team than a victory", knows Luhukay, who coached Augsburg between 2009 and 2012. It looks likely that Hertha can take something from the game, after all, Augsburg are not exactly brimming with confidence at the moment.
Their last win was against mighty Bayern Munich - ending the Bavarian giant's incredible 53-game unbeaten run. Since then though Augsburg have struggled, but nobody is unduly worried because they have alrerady retained Bundesliga status. They are however not in the mood to give away any Easter presents. Their suspended midfielder Kevin Vogt said this week: "There are still plenty of points to collect and we want to start doing so against Hertha."
Even keel?
Should he play, winger Tobias Werner will wear a protective mask after recently breaking an eye socket. Augsburg are without playmaker Jan Moravek (torn hamstring) and former Hertha man Andreas Ottl, who has an adductor problem: "There are three important points at stake and we will give 100% hoping to get that bit of luck we have been missing in recent matches", says their head coach Markus Weinzierl.
"FC Augsburg are a good side who fight hard both home and away", knows Skjelbred. Luhukay is hoping that his team begin the game better than they have in recent times. He says: "We will work hard to become successful again." The Dutchman knows that luck plays a big part in it all: "We are determined to win on Saturday. After all, the next game is always the most important."
Possible line-ups:
FC Augsburg: Hitz - Verhaegh, Hong, Klavan, Ostrzolek - Baier - Hahn, Callsen-Bracker, Halil Altintop, Esswein - Mölders
Hertha BSC: Kraft - Pekarik, Langkamp, Brooks, van den Bergh - Hosogai, Cigerci - Skjelbred, Ronny, Ben-Hatira - Allagui
Not much has changed since Hertha lost in Leverkusen last weekend. Top scorer Adrian Ramos is still sidelined after colliding with Hoffenheim keeper Koen Casteels two weeks ago. Defender Levan Kobiashvili has an ankle problem and has not travelled with the squad. Happily captain Fabian Lustenberger is on the verge of making his long-awaited comeback. Hertha boss Jos Luhukay: "He has trained without any problems for the last ten days. Maybe he will be firt for Saturday. I am certainly going to ask him."
Searching for success
"It will be a tough match for us but could also be a key game. We want to battle our way back to success in order to end the season in a positive manner", says midfielder Per Skjelbred. "There is no better medicine for a team than a victory", knows Luhukay, who coached Augsburg between 2009 and 2012. It looks likely that Hertha can take something from the game, after all, Augsburg are not exactly brimming with confidence at the moment.
Their last win was against mighty Bayern Munich - ending the Bavarian giant's incredible 53-game unbeaten run. Since then though Augsburg have struggled, but nobody is unduly worried because they have alrerady retained Bundesliga status. They are however not in the mood to give away any Easter presents. Their suspended midfielder Kevin Vogt said this week: "There are still plenty of points to collect and we want to start doing so against Hertha."
Even keel?
Should he play, winger Tobias Werner will wear a protective mask after recently breaking an eye socket. Augsburg are without playmaker Jan Moravek (torn hamstring) and former Hertha man Andreas Ottl, who has an adductor problem: "There are three important points at stake and we will give 100% hoping to get that bit of luck we have been missing in recent matches", says their head coach Markus Weinzierl.
"FC Augsburg are a good side who fight hard both home and away", knows Skjelbred. Luhukay is hoping that his team begin the game better than they have in recent times. He says: "We will work hard to become successful again." The Dutchman knows that luck plays a big part in it all: "We are determined to win on Saturday. After all, the next game is always the most important."
Possible line-ups:
FC Augsburg: Hitz - Verhaegh, Hong, Klavan, Ostrzolek - Baier - Hahn, Callsen-Bracker, Halil Altintop, Esswein - Mölders
Hertha BSC: Kraft - Pekarik, Langkamp, Brooks, van den Bergh - Hosogai, Cigerci - Skjelbred, Ronny, Ben-Hatira - Allagui