Heidenheim vs. Hoffenheim preview: Visitors targeting first away win
| Photo: TSG Hoffenheim |
Heidenheim
Heidenheim experienced a successful trip to Cyprus in midweek. The Bundesliga side recorded a narrow away win in their clash against Pafos thanks to Patrick Mainka’s 25th-minute effort. Impressively, Heidenheim have now won all four of their Conference League matches this season, including their first two games of the league phase.
However, they have found victories much harder to come by in the Bundesliga in recent times. In fact, Frank Schmidt’s have lost four of their last five top-flight matches. Heidenheim began that run of games with defeats to Borussia Dortmund and Freiburg, before they beat Mainz to clinch their third league win of the season. However, they have been unable to build upon that result, having fallen to defeat in their last two league games against RB Leipzig and Borussia Mönchengladbach.
Sunday’s hosts will be desperate to produce a strong performance after losing their previous two Bundesliga home matches without conceding. They are at risk of losing three consecutive home games for the first time in their short Bundesliga history.
Team News
The hosts are unable to call upon Luka Janeš and Maximillian Breunig, while Thomas Keller is a doubt for Sunday’s home clash.
Hoffenheim
In contrast to their hosts, Hoffenheim failed to take anything from their midweek away trip. Pellegrino Matarazzo’s side fell to a 3-0 loss in Thursday’s Europa League clash against Porto, leaving them in 18th place with four points to their name after the first three matchdays.
Hoffenheim will now turn their focus back to Bundesliga action, and they will have the chance to claim back-to-back league victories after beating Bochum last weekend. Andrej Kramarić, Marius Bülter and Haris Tabaković all got on the scoresheet to fire Hoffenheim to a 3-1 home victory, ending a five-game winless run in the Bundesliga.
While they may have enjoyed success on home turf last weekend, Hoffenheim are yet to win a league game on their travels this season. Die Kraichgauer lost their first two away games against Eintracht Frankfurt and Union Berlin, before they played out a 1-1 draw in their most recent Bundesliga road trip. Hoffenheim may be able to take confidence from the fact they recorded a 3-2 victory in last season’s away meeting with Heidenheim in August 2023.
Team News
Ozan Kabak and Grischa Prömel are both sidelined with anterior cruciate ligament injuries. The visitors are also without Ihlas Bebou, Finn Ole Becker and Christopher Lenz. Meanwhile, there are doubts surrounding the availability of Dennis Geiger, Pavel Kaderabek and Marius Bülter.