Hoffenheim-Augsburg preview

With the Bundesliga table being so tight 19 games in, joint-bottom Augsburg travel to eighth-placed Hoffenheim tomorrow afternoon knowing that a win at the Rhein-Neckar-Arena could put them a mere four points behind the Sinsheim side. However, taking all three points back to Bavaria is easier said than done for Jos Luhukay’s side, as they have only won once in ten Bundesliga away games this season, scoring the second least amount of goals – behind Hannover – in the process. Added to that, Hoffenheim have conceded the second-least amount of goals at home in the league this season – the impressive Tom Starke letting only six strikes evade him (unsurprisingly, Bayern Munich’s Manuel Neuer leads the way having let in just three Bundesliga goals at the Allianz Arena so far in the 2011/12 campaign).

Advertisement

Augsburg 2-2 Freiburg

The first half formations.

Quality met commitment in this opening round Bundesliga tie between two of the division’s minnows, as Augsburg twice fought back through their new hero Sascha Mölders to earn a point from the kind of game they know that they could not afford to lose if they are to have any chance of staying up this season. After a chance-free first half which saw Papiss Cissé offer nothing, the Senegalese showed one moment of quality early into the second half to open the game up. But despite Augsburg using their wingers a little more and the long ball a lot less in the second half, Freiburg tried to play more football over the course of the 90 minutes, so you could make a case for them having been good value for a win. However, thanks to Augsburg’s players and fans showing the same level of energy from the first minute through to the last, and some inspired substitutions by coach Jos Luhukay, the top-flight newbies fought back in the final ten minutes to salvage a draw.

Match preview here.

The SGL arena (sic) erupted as the hosts kicked off; Augsburg were at last starting life as the 51st team to compete in the Bundesliga.