Thursday, April 30, 2009

UEFA CUP .............

WERDER BREMEN - HAMBURG

I am not the biggest fan of German league football, but am quite looking forward to this game. Not quite sure what went wrong with Bremen early in the season, their Bundesliga campaign has been a shambles and they are booked for a mid table finish, which for them is unacceptable. They have managed to keep the fans on their side with two big cup runs and to be honest, whenever I have seen them in recent weeks, I have been quite impressed, infact, it would amaze me if their were two better teams in Germany, despite what the league table might say.

They needed a penalty shoot out to see Hamburg off on the road,in the DFB Pokal semi-final last week, but were well on top and could easily have won by four goals, which is no exaggeration. Only the home keeper kept his side in the contest. A very heavy schedule appears to be taking it's toll on Hamburg and it is a while since they put in a convincing performance. I assume that they will be up for this, but will be without Mladen Petric and both Marcell Jansen and Jonathan Pitroipa are carrying knocks, although one, maybe both might play. They are in a tie for third spot in the Bundesliga, desperate to earn a top three spot and the Champions League place that comes with it and probably have not yet given up on the title. With second placed Hertha coming to visit at the weekend, their focus is sure to be split, at least a little, between the two games.

Bremen are fully concentrated on this game alone and will be looking for a lead to take to the second leg. I think that even without the injury or clearer motivation factor, that the home side are simply the better team at present and expect them to win.

7.5 points Weder Bremen -3/4 ball 2.11 asian line.

Good Luck.

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