Bundesliga Preview: Schalke 04 Vs Hamburg
Schalke and Hamburg made a mediocre start to the first half of the season and they have failed to live up to their fans' high expectations.
Arena AufSchalke will see Schalke host Hamburg, where both teams would be looking to get their respective seasons back on track.
Schalke made a late strike before Christmas and rose to 10th place. On the other end, Hamburg slipped to 9th place in the Bundesliga table after losing 4 of their last 6 games. Both sides will be aiming for a fresh start in the new
year.
Felix Magath, coach of Schalke, has said that he wants his side to start 2011 on a strong note. Magath will be hoping that his side will be able to put the poor first half of the season behind them and take things differently from now on. The experienced
German has also stressed that things have also not been going according to plan for Hamburg, and they would also, thus, be coming to the game with a strong resolve.
It appears that Magath has forgiven Peruvian, Jefferson Farfan, who reported late for training after Christmas, and it is expected that he will be playing a part in the crunching game with Dutchman Klaas Jan Huntelaar and former Real Madrid man, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Raul-c30652. Magath
went on to say that the Peruvian has been in good form and has recovered from a cold. It is also expected that youngster, Julian Draxler will also be given some part to play in the match, after he impressed Magath during the winter training camp.
Armin Veh, coach of Hamburg, acknowledged the fact that both teams will be expecting to deliver a strong performance as stakes are pretty high this time. But he also feels that his team is good enough to come out of this fixture as winners, as he believes
that his players have prepared well during the training camp.
On the opening day of the season, Schalke travelled to Hamburg and 2 goals by Ruud van Nistelroy gave Hamburg a 2-1 victory. The Dutchman has been declared fit to lead the Hamburg attack alongside Anis Ben-Hatira.
Ahead of the match, Hamburg have had an uncertain off-season, with doubts about the future of several players. It seems that veteran, Ze Roberto is reaching the twilight of his career. Coach Armin Veh himself is undecided on his future after he disclosed
his ambitions of becoming a sporting director. With such a big veil of uncertainty hanging over Hamburg, optimism is bound to be scarce.
Meanwhile, coach Felix Magath will be happy to know that he has a strong squad at his disposal, apart from the presence of Japanese right-back http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Tim-Hoogland-c35093 is still not fit enough to make a return, but
there is a slight chance that http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Christoph-Moritz-c9169 will get a starting nod as a right-back or in the mid-field.
Armin Veh isn’t as lucky as Felix Magath as he will be without a few key players. http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Paolo-Guerrero-c29087 are all out injured, while Heung-Min Son is on Asian Cup duty.
According to experts, having a completely fit squad and being a home side might give Schalke the needed edge, and they may just have enough about them to take all three points.
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