Hoffenheim-Bayer Leverkusen is a match in the 20th day of the Bundesliga and is played on Saturday at 15:30: line-ups, predictions, TV and streaming
In Germany, just as in England, a coach who is relieved of his duties can also accept another position within the same season. And after around four months without a bench, former Stuttgart coach Pellegrino Matarazzo – who is clearly of Italian origin, as his surname suggests – is already looking for a new professional challenge.
The American, who was sacked by the Swabians last October, has a few days ago become the new coach of Hoffenheim, who have just given Andre Breitenreiter the sack after the heavy 5-2 defeat in the direct clash with Bochum. The Sinsheim team has been going through a deep crisis, with no solution in sight since before the World Cup break. And that seems to have become particularly acute in recent matches. Last Saturday’s humiliation dropped Hoffenheim to fifth-last place, just three points behind Stuttgart, who would have to play in the promotion/relegation play-off if the Bundesliga ended today. To find the last success of the white-blue team you have to go back as far as 14 October, when they won 3-0 against Schalke 04. In four months the only points, the result of two draws, came against Cologne and Stuttgart.
Hoffenheim, bench for Matarazzo
The decision to bench a coach who only a short time ago was unable to turn around another relegation-threatened team is a little unsettling, but it has to be said that before this year Matarazzo had done well at the helm of the red and whites, now coached by Bruno Labbadia.
Frimpong
First they will have to get to grips with a defence that has always conceded at least two goals in their five matches since January. Xabi Alonso’s Bayer Leverkusen, on the scene in Sinsheim, who surprisingly ran out of goals in the last two league games against Borussia Dortmund (0-2) and Augsburg (1-0), could take advantage of this. A turnaround that worries the Basque coach, considering that his team had come from five consecutive victories, which had boosted their European ambitions.
The Prediction
The two missteps with Borussia Dortmund and Augsburg tell us that Bayer Leverkusen are not yet fully recovered. But Europe could really slip away if the Aspirins are not able to win these kinds of matches, although Hoffenheim’s reaction after the change in the bench is conceivable and for Wirtz and his teammates a comfortable away game is not to be expected. Better to stay away from the final result: the defensive problems of the Sinsheim team suggest an entertaining match, with at least three goals in total.
The likely line-ups for Hoffenheim-Bayer Leverkusen
- HOFFENHEIM (3-4-1-2): Baumann; Kabak, Brooks, Nsoki; Akpoguma, Rudy, Delaney, Angelino; Baumgartner; Bebou, Kramaric.
- BAYER LEVERKUSEN (4-2-3-1): Hradecky; Frimpong, Tapsoba, Tah, Hincapie; Palacios, Andrich; Diaby, Wirtz, Adli; Hlozek.
POSSIBLE RESULT: 2-2
