TSG has Europe In Sight | Hoffenheim Match Preview

Third place in sight!

With our furious 4-1 home win against Borussia Dortmund, RB Leipzig have secured fourth place in the table and now even have our sights set on third place. With a win in the game on Friday evening at 8:30 p.m. against TSG Hoffenheim, VfB Stuttgart could be overtaken for at least one night.

On the 32nd Bundesliga matchday, the Red Bulls will face an opponent who has improved compared to the previous season, when survival was in doubt for a long time. TSG is even still hoping for a place in a European competition.

Form, coach and the squad – we take a look at our opponent!
 

Hoffenheim Recent Form

More successful than last year
TSG Hoffenheim has seven more points than at the same time last season, when they were only able to secure their place in the league shortly before the end. This time, TSG does not have to worry, but still has a chance to move up. The last five match days have seen alternating defeats and victories. There has not been a draw in a match involving Hoffenheim for a long time: the last ten TSG games have always produced a winner.

TSG Hopes for Europe
With three matchdays to go before the end of the season, TSG Hoffenheim is still fighting for a place in international competition. The team from Kraichgau is currently in 9th place in the table, but SC Freiburg in 7th place is just one point ahead. This season, it is very likely that 7th and 8th place will both qualify for participation in the Europa League and Conference League respectively.

Key Facts

• 16th in the home table
• 6th in the away table
• 55 goals – only the top 5 have scored more often
• 63 goals conceded – only Darmstadt have conceded more
   

Last Five Matches for Hoffenheim

• 2:3 against VfL Bochum (Matchday 31)
• 4:3 against Borussia Mönchengladbach (Matchday 30)
• 1:4 against 1. FSV Mainz 05 (Matchday 29)
• 3:1 against FC Augsburg (Matchday 28)
• 1:2 against Bayer 04 Leverkusen (Matchday 27)
   

Squad Status Before #TSGRBL

The three-man chain is set
Hoffenheim usually plays in a 3-5-2 system. In recent weeks, coach Pellegrino Matarazzo has made only a few changes to his starting eleven. The three-man defense consisting of Ozan Kabak, Florian Grillitsch  and young player Tim Drexler was set, as was the strike duo of Maximilian Beier and Wout Weghorst.

A youngster is banned
Compared to last week, TSG has to restructure its midfield because youngster Umut Tohumcu (19) has to serve a yellow card suspension. However, there is a top-class alternative in Anton Stach. Stach has already played two international matches for Germany.
 

Absences 

• Umut Tohumcu (Yellow card accumulation)
• Mergim Berisha (Cruciate ligament tear)
• Stanley Nsoki (Hip injury)
• Marco John (Cruciate ligament tear)
• Bambasé Conte (Illness)

Key Players

Oliver Baumann (one of the best Bundesliga goalkeepers)

Grischa Prömel (intelligent midfielder)

Andrej Kramaric (central man in the offense)

Maximilian Beier (highly talented attacker)
 

The Head Coach

Pellegrino "Rino" Matarazzo was born in the USA and came to Germany as a young man through football, where he played in the Oberliga and Regionalliga. At 1. FC Nuremberg, he made the transition from player to assistant coach of the second team in 2010. He gained further experience in the FCN youth team and then in Hoffenheim, where he eventually became assistant coach to Julian Nagelsmann. 

Matarazzo's first stop as head coach was VfB Stuttgart, which he led back to the Bundesliga in 2020. In October 2022, he was released from VfB and took up his current job in Sinsheim just under four months later. In his first season, he managed to avoid relegation with Hoffenheim, and now a return to Europe is within the realm of possibility.

Coach Facts

Name: Pellegrino Matarazzo

Birthday: 28. November 1977 in Wayne (USA)

Clubs: TSG Hoffenheim, VfB Stuttgart, TSG Hoffenheim (Co-Trainer), 1. FC Nürnberg II (Co-Trainer)

Starting XI in their last match:
Baumann – Kabak, Grillitsch, Drexler – Kaderabek, Tohumcu, Skov – Prömel, Kramaric – Weghorst, Beier
 

This is how it went for RB Leipzig against Hoffenheim

Direct Competition

• 11 Victories, 3 Draws, 3 Losses– 30:20 Goals
• 7 home wins, 4 away wins
• Top Goal Scorer: Timo Werner (6 Goals)
• Biggest Win: 3:0 on 10. April 2022 (Goals: Nkunku, Halstenberg, Szoboszlai)

Played for Both Clubs

• David Raum (from 2021 to 2022 at Hoffenheim)
• Christoph Baumgartner (from 2017 to 2023 at Hoffenheim)

Where will TSG Hoffenheim vs. RB Leipzig be shown?

The match will be broadcast live on DAZN from 8:30 p.m. on Friday in Germany. You will need a DAZN subscription to watch it.

And of course we will also be live on our social media channels Twitter, Facebook and Instagram as well as on our WhatsApp channel. There you will get all the information and exclusive content about the match.