Hamburg – Leverkusen preview

By: Chris | September 12th, 2008

Sorry for the lack of posts loyal readers, but with the international break there hasn’t been a lot of club news coming out of Hamburg, other than real “fluff” stories. The good news is that there is a big, big match Saturday between HSV and Bayer Leverkusen at the ‘Bank. One of the more interesting story lines for Hamburg is who is actually going to get playing time.

With the recent acquisitions of Mladen Petric, Marcell Jansen, Alex Silva (who has been confirmed as out of Saturday’s match, having arrived in Hamburg from Brazil this morning) and Thiago Neves, the battles for playing time with the first team are really heating up. WIth Alex Silva’s absence, Bastian Reinhardt gets another start, and deservedly so, after nailing 2 goals against Bielefeldt. The local papers speculate the Reinhardt will be out of a starting job once Alex Silva is match fit, and I think it’s going to be great watching them push each other for starting spot. The other central defense spot is manned by Dutch international Joris Mathijsen, who is not in any danger of losing his spot. At left back, Marcell Jansen steps in for Thimothee Atouba, and ominously, Jansen’s balky knee had to drained following the Bielefeld match. Jerome Boateng returns from injury to take back the right back spot from super-sub Guy Demel, who now looks to be the odd man out on the new roster. I have read that HSV will let him seek a January transfer. I think that may be a bit short sighted of the club, but Demel will not be happy with the situation if he’s not playing. In the midfield both Nigel de Jong and David Jarolim are entrenched in defending roles, and with Ivica Olic and Piotr Trochowski on the wings. That means that Jonathon Pitroipa is the odd man out there, as Thiago Neves will be playing behind striker Paolo Guerrero, and Trochowski taking Pitroipa’s wing position. Here’s the projected lineup:

Rost

Boateng, Reinhardt, Mathijsen, Jansen

De Jong, Jarolim

Trochowski, Neves, Olic

Guerrero

OR

Rost

Boateng, Reinhardt, Mathijsen, Jansen

De Jong, Jarolim

Trochowski, Neves

Guerrero, Olic

Interesting that new striker Mladen Petric has yet to start a match for HSV since his arrival. . .

Leverkusen come to Hamburg sitting fourth on 2 wins (Stuttgart, Hoffenheim) and 1 defeat (Dortmund). In their three matches, Bayer have scored 9 goals, and conceded 5, meaning we are looking at a high scoring affair (Hamburg have scored 8 and conceded 5 in 2 victories and 1 draw). Rene Adler returns to goal for Bayer following a shoulder injury, which is great news for them, and not-so-great news for HSV.

HSV returns from the international break with no injuries and a full squad, though Alex Silva likely will not play due his late arrival from Brazil. I am very keen on seeing how Neves fits in with the side, and whether or not we can have a stronger defensive effort than we did versus Bielefeldt. With Boateng back, I think that’s likely, and I also think that Reinhardt will be playing his heart out to keep his place on the field and off the bench.

SWAG prediction (Again with the predictions? Oy. . .): Look for a high-flying matchup on Saturday, with HSV taking all three points–4:3, with a pair from Olic, and 1 from Trochowski and Neves. I have a quite a strong distaste for Bayer, particularly after the UEFA Cup matches last season. I really, really want HSV to pound them.

Next up: A UEFA Cup group match with Romanian minnows, AFC Unirea Urziceni. Urziceni is such a small city that there isn’t an “adequate” hotel in town for HSV. They will be staying in Bucharest, some 50 miles away. I will have a “Know your minnows” post this weekend or early next week (it’s already in the works!).