Preview RB Leipzig vs. TSG Hoffenheim

January 30, 2023 - 14:30

TSG still without a win in 2023| League-winning manager | Active in the transfer market

RB Leipzig vs. TSG Hoffenheim

RB Leipzig are unbeaten in their last ten games at home, with nine wins. The Red Bulls’ record in the Red Bull arena is near perfect and we would like to see it continue.

But the next challenge in front of the home crowd is a tough one: TSG Hoffenheim visit Leipzig on Wednesday evening (18:00 CET) in the DFB-Pokal round of 16. Here is all the information about TSG Hoffenheim.

TSG Hoffenheim season statistics

Stats and facts on TSG Hoffenheim

Form

TSG are still waiting for a competitive win in 2023. In the last double-game week the team only picked up one out of a possible nine points.

Their last three games:

Matchday 18: 4-1 loss against Mönchengladbach (goals: Bebou/ 2x Hofmann, Stindl, Wolf)
Matchday 17: 2-2 against Stuttgart (2x Kramaric / Guirassy, Endo)
Matchday 16: 3-1 loss against Union Berlin (Bebou/2x Doekhi, Leweling)

With 19 points overall, TSG sit in 13th place in the Bundesliga after matchday 18 (W5, D4, L9). The gap to the relegation zone (VfL Bochum) is three points.

Hoffenheim’s route to the DFB-Pokal round of 16

1st round: 2-0 (a.e.t.) vs. SV Rödinghausen (Kabak, Prömel)
2nd round: 5-1 vs. FC Schalke 04 (2x Dabbur, Angelino, Kabak, Kaderabek)

Leipzig’s route to the DFB-Pokal round of 16

1st round: 8-0 vs. FC Teutonia Ottensen (3x Werner, 2x Silva, Forsberg, Olmo, Nkunku)
2nd round: 4-0 vs. Hamburger SV (2x Poulsen, Henrichs, Simakan)

Team

Key players

Top scorer, record goal scorer, vice-captain – Andrej Kramaric (237 appearances, 108 goals and 49 assists) is one of the main faces at the club after seven years at TSG and one of the longest serving players after keeper Oliver Baumann (the captain, with a total of 313 competitive games for TSG since 2014).

With five Bundesliga goals, the Croatia international (81 caps, 22 goals) has once again been a constant in Hoffenheim’s attack this season, even though TSG head coach André Breitenreiter sometimes plays him in a new role in central midfield.

Christoph Baumgartner plays alongside Kramaric. The 23-year-old Austrian is one of the top players for RBL’s opponents despite his relative young age. Baumgartner is joint second top scorer for TSG with four goals and four assists.

Ozan Kabak has also been involved in eight goals for TSG this season: the Turkish centre back, who was released by FC Schalke 04 in summer 2022 after loan spells at Norwich City and Liverpool, is showing great potential at TSG and is their top goal scorer in the cup with two goals.

Hoffenheim’s top scorers in all competitions:

Christoph Baumgartner (4 goals/ 4 assists)
Ozan Kabak (4/4)
Andrej Kramaric (5/2)
Angelino (1/6)
Robert Skov (3/4)

RB Leipzig’s top scorers:

New additions

After Georgino Rutter (64 appearances for TSG, 11 goals, eight assists), an important attacking player, moved from TSG to Leeds United in the winter, Alexander Rosen (director of profession football at TSG) was active in the January transfer market.

Kasper Dolberg (previously at OGC Nizza) strengthens the forward line and comes to TSG with 40 international appearances and 11 goals for Denmark. TSG has an option to buy the centre forward, who played for Ajax and Sevilla before his time in France.

The defence has been able to draw on the experience of John Anthony Brooks since last week. The centre back has played 217 times in total in the Bundesliga (12 goals, 7 assists) for Hertha BSC (2012-2017) and VfL Wolfsburg (2017-2022).

After ten years as a professional, the Berlin native decided on a move abroad to Portuguese club Benfica. He made five competitive appearances there under German manager Roger Schmidt.

Reunion

We will be seeing left back Angelino again, who played for RB Leipzig from January 2019 until last summer. The Spaniard has been playing for Hoffenheim since the beginning of the current season (17 appearances).

We look forward to greeting Angel in the Red Bull Arena on Wednesday!

Absentees

TSG Hoffenheim will be missing a few key players on Wednesday:

Grischa Promel (ankle fracture), Robert Skov (calf issue), Jacob Bruun Larsen (groin operation), Kevin Vogt, Angelo Stiller and Dennis Geiger (injuries unknown).

All information about injuries for RBL can be found in the current squad update.

Head coach

André Breitenreiter took over as head coach of TSG from the 2022/23 season. Under the 49-year-old, Hoffenheim have an average of 1.25 points per match (20 competitive games, W7, D4, L9).

Breitenreiter prefers to play a 3-4-1-2 formation and came to the Bundesliga side having just won the Swiss Super League. The German coach had an outstanding season with FC Zürich in 2021/22.

In the end, the club from the city famous for business and banking finished far ahead of top clubs FC Basel (14-point gap) and Young Boys Bern (16) with 76 points and celebrated the 13th league title in the club’s history.

Before his role in Switzerland, Breitenreiter, who played for HSV, Wolfsburg and Unterhaching, coached Hannover 96 (2016-2019), FC Schalke 04 (2015-2016) and SC Paderborn (2013-2015).