#TSGWOB preview: "We want to play nice football"

On Saturday at 15:30, TSG Hoffenheim face Wolfsburg in the WIRSOL Rhein-Neckar-Arena. achtzehn99.de has collated all the important pre-match comments from head coach Julian Nagelsmann, analysed the current form of Bruno Labbadia’s men and picked out a key battle for the three points.

Julian Nagelsmann on...

... the opposition:

"We have watched both of Wolfsburg’s games since the arrival of Bruno Labbadia and we could see plenty similarities to their style of play under Martin Schmidt. There have, however been improvements in their defence. In preparation for Saturday, we’ve also watched a few of Labbadia’s games at HSV: We haven’t been able to draw any real conclusions from these, but they do show a certain philosophy, which he’s implementing at Wolfsburg. I can’t assess the situation at the club, I can only observe from the outside – the club certainly doesn’t have the stability they want, but it’s also true that Wolfsburg have a good team with outstanding individuals."

... personnel:

"Andrej Kramaric has been having problems with his patella tendon and hasn’t trained for the last two days. He will be back with the team today, but we’ll have to wait and see how his tendon copes. The tough surfaces aren’t ideal for this. Dennis Geiger and Mark Uth have been struggling with some muscular problems this week – we will wait and see whether they’ll be fit for the weekend. Kerem Demirbay and Stefan Posch will not be available."

... the current situation:

"I have expectations of the team, of the football they play, and of myself: We’re doing everything within our power to make sure the fans are happy with us – which we’ve managed to do very well in the last two years. Our goal is to play nice football – sometimes it’s like going to the cinema, in that you’ll see nine good films and then one bad one, and the negative reaction dominates. I think that’s how it was in our last home game with the boos from some of the fans. I can only emphasise, as I have done in the past that I am generally very pleased with the support of our fans. There has been some fantastic progress in the last two years."

... Kevin Akpoguma’s progress:

"In the reverse fixture in Wolfsburg, we played him while he was going through a difficult phase, but he played really well. His biggest strength is his athleticism, even with the odd mistake in our build-up play at the back, his man very rarely gets past him. Last time out in Augsburg he was very composed – I was impressed. He is a good defender who needs to improve his build-up play a bit – he’ll get that from us."

Previous encounters

This will be the 20th Bundesliga clash between the two sides – the head-to-head record over the 19 encounters to date favour the Wolves, who have won nine of them. TSG have beaten Wolfsburg five times and the sides have shared the points as many times. At home, TSG’s league record is positive – four wins to three losses and two draws. More than five years have passed since Wolfsburg’s last Bundesliga win in Sinsheim.

The opposition’s form

Wolfsburg have only managed to record one victory in their last ten Bundesliga outings – a 1-0 win in Hannover at the end of January. Even under the new management of Bruno Labbadia, who will make his third appearance as head coach in Sinsheim on Saturday, they are without a win. His team have picked up just one point from the last two games and have fallen down to 15th in the league as a result, level on points with Mainz, who sit in the relegation playoff spot. 

Key battles

Consistent defending has been Wolfsburg’s recipe for success on several occasions this season. The Wolves have also played a total of 10,801 passes, successfully completing 82 percent of them. Both statistics are the eighth best in the division – considerably good numbers for a team in the bottom third of the table. Wolfsburg’s downfall seems to have been their conviction in the final third, with only 21 percent of their crosses reaching a teammate – the third worst record in the league. More importantly for TSG: Wolfsburg’s possession generally doesn’t lead to chances – only 254 attempts on goal all season is the second worst of any team. Teams that shut the creative players like Didavi, Malli and Origi out using physicality, increase their chances of beaten Wolfsburg considerably.