Skhiri and Ljubicic likely to miss next fixture, jet-lag may sideline Richards
Ahead of the league's round eight kickoff fixture on Friday, both Bundesliga coaches face issues with players returning from international duty.
Köln's Steffen Baumgart is missing two potential starters whilst Hoffenheim's Sebastian Hoeneß does not know in what sort of shape his defensive anchor will return.
Köln's Steffen Baumgart is missing two potential starters whilst Hoffenheim's Sebastian Hoeneß does not know in what sort of shape his defensive anchor will return.
| Ellyes Skhiri. | Photo: GEPA Pictures/Sven Sonntag |
One assumed that Skhiri will not be an option for head-coach Steffen Baumgart in two-days-time. The same might also be said of versatile midfielder Dejan Ljubicic, who returned from the Austrian national team carrying a non-corona-related infection. The Effzeh revealed that the 24-year-old had been separated from the team and also could not train.
Skhiri has scored three goals thus far this season for the Geißböcke. Ljubicic has chipped in with five solid starts and two impressive relief appearances.
Ellyes Skhiri muss aufgrund einer Knieverletzung bis auf Weiteres pausieren. Wir wünschen dir eine schnelle und gute Besserung, Ellyes! 💪 #effzeh
— 1. FC Köln (@fckoeln) October 13, 2021
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"We don't look at the personnel situation," Baumgart noted in his Wednesday presser, "We look at ourselves, at what we want to play. We want to impose our game. Hoffenheim is a team that didn't start as well as they had envisioned. This is a team still in search of itself. We have an opportunity to play a solid game."
Over in Sinsheim, Sebastian Hoeneß spoke on some of the players already missing from his squad. There will be no comeback this week for Marco John, Benjamin Hübner, or Havard Nordveit. Hoeneß did note that the injury that forced him to make Christoph Baumgartner a late scratch wouldn't affect the Austrian attacker's availability this weekend.
A topic Hoeneß found himself pressed on concerned the return of Chris Richards from the USMNT. After catching the red-eye back from the United States, the American center-halve's availability will hinge on several factors.
"With Chris, one will simply have to wait and see how it works out," the TSG trainer noted, "It's a question of how much he has it together. Jet lag is a question in this case. Did he sleep on the plane? Will he be able to train on Thursday? I'll have to talk to the player, see how he feels, and go with my gut."
Die Pressekonferenz vor dem Bundesliga-Heimspiel gegen den 1. FC Köln mit Sebastian Hoeneß.#TSGKOE https://t.co/Fj6Xs9K8Ib
— TSG Hoffenheim (@tsghoffenheim) October 13, 2021