Steve Cherundolo looks to help Hannover to a second straight win after his return from qualifying, while David Yelldell will do his best to help Koblenz find their own winning ways.
Eintracht Frankfurt - Hannover 96
Steve Cherundolo will man the right side of the defense as Hannover 96 travels south Saturday to take on Eintracht Frankfurt.
Hannover will look to continue its winning ways of late, having snapped a four-game winless streak with a 5-2 win over Freiburg before the break for World Cup qualifying. Frankfurt seeks to snap its own two-game scoreless losing streak.
Injuries continue to decimate the Hannover roster, with American Sal Zizzo sidelined for at least six months with a knee injury. Hannover coach Andreas Bergmann must also face the absence of starting keeper Robert Enke, who is regaining fitness after a bacterial infection.
In addition, strikers Mikael Forssel, Mike Hanke and Jan Schlaudraff will miss the game while recovering from injuries.
Defender Vinicius also remains out with a disk problem and will be joined in the trainer's room by midfielders Leon Andreasen and Altin Lala. Coach Bergmann can look forward to the return of defender Mario Eggimann to active duty.
Frankfurt coach Michael Skibbe also has a sizable roster of missing players, headlined by three players out due to cards: defender Marco Russ and midfielder Pirmin Schwegler must sit due to red cards while midfielder Selim Teber has the day off after picking up his fifth yellow of the season.
In addition, defender Aleksandar Vasoski is out again with a broken rib, and midfielder Christoph Preuß continues to rehab after a knee operation.
VfL Wolfsburg - Borussia Mönchengladbach
Michael Bradley hopes to overcome jet lag in time to regain his coach's confidence as Borussia Mönchengladbach visit VfL Wolfsburg on Sunday.
After scoring the first goal in the Americans' 2-2 home tie against Costa Rica on Wednesday night, Bradley hopes to parlay his success with the national team back into a consistent starting spot for Mönchengladbach.
Bradley returned to coach Michael Frontzeck's starting lineup for the team's last game, a 1-0 loss to regional rival Borussia Dortmund. He had been buried in the coach's doghouse, but after appearances in the last two games, he seems to have clawed his way back to his coach's good graces.
Wolfsburg is currently in seventh place in the Bundesliga, but they are only three points out of third place and the Champions League qualifying spot it brings. The inconsistent Wolves hope to record consecutive positive Bundesliga results for the first time this season after a tie at Bochum before the break for World Cup qualifying.
Mönchengladbach seems headed in the opposite position - sitting in 15th place, only two points ahead of FC Köln in the 16th position, and the threat of relegation to the 2. Bundesliga. After four straight league losses and being knocked out of the German Cup, the Foals are in desperate need of a win or even a tie.
Injuries should not play a major role, with only one regular player expected to miss the match. Mönchengladbach midfielder Gal Alberman continues to recover from heel surgery.
1860 Munich - MSV Duisburg
Kenny Cooper returns from a brief appearance for the Stars and Stripes, hoping that their success will follow him across the pond to benefit hapless 1860 Munich.
A season which began with much promise has quickly gone down the tubes, as the Lions find themselves in the shocking position of 15th place, in the thick of a battle to avoid the bottom three with one-quarter of the season already done.
Cooper has also slowed down after a roaring start, with his last league goal coming in late-August and a pair of sub-par performances in his last two outings possibly tipping coach Ewald Lienen's hand to give the big striker a rest.
After pushing for promotion last season, 11th-place Duisburg have bounced between results in the new term, and look set for a mid-standings finish if they don't find some measure of consistency in their play.
Both teams have fairly significant absences from their squads. Lions midfielder Stefan Aigner out on a red card suspension, striker Ardijan Djokaj with an ankle problem, and midfielders Daniel Bierofka and Florin Lovin with respective groin and ACL injuries.
Duisburg coach Peter Neururer will also be without several vital contributors, as starting forward Sandro Wagner is out for an extended period for an ACL injury, midfield Chavdar Yankov still recovering from a broken hand and Mihai Tararache form a meniscus injury.
TuS Koblenz - Rot Weiss Ahlen
With a disastrous league start seeing them with only five points and a troubling 16th place standing after eight games, David Yelldell and Koblenz will need to take all three points from dead-last Rot Weiss Ahlen on Sunday if they hope to entertain any thought of survival.
What started out a season built on cautious optimism after a big week-two win over current leaders Bielefeld has quickly given way to an awful run which has seen Koblenz go six games without a win.
With their only bright spot since mid-August being September's win over Cottbus in the German Cup, their best chance to get back on track will be this season's 2. Bundesliga roadkill Ahlen, who have taken only one point from eight games and look like a long-shot to even build on that paltry sum barring divine intervention.
Koblenz coach Uwe Rapolder will celebrate his survival through the international break with a squad that is slowly returning to health, but still must do without several players.
Defenders Martin Hudec and Dominique Ndjeng continues to be out with respective foot and shoulder injuries, midfielder Emmanual Krontiris will once again miss with a groin problem, and striker Njazi Kuqi will be absent after having an operation on his groin.
Ahlen's skipper Christian Hock must make do without defender Ronald Maul who will sit thanks to an adductor problem, and the midfield duo of Tim Gorschlüter and Mohammed Lartey, with the former having the dubious distinction of being ejected less than an hour into his 2. Bundesliga debut due to a second yellow, and the latter having a knee injury.
As the season seems to be beyond repair, Hock will likely continue to give time to the young strike trio of Chihan Özkara, Luka Tankulic and Bahatin Köse, who were all called up from the reserve setup earlier in October.
Fortuna Düsseldorf - FSV Frankfurt
Matt Taylor will likely take the field for Frankfurt as a second-half substitute when they try to build on their lowly point total on a tough trip to Fortuna Düsseldorf's Esperit Arena.
Taylor has found himself finally getting more consistent sub minutes under former coach Tomas Oral, and will hope to continue the trend under new boss Hans-Jürgen Boysen, who took the reigns during the international break.
He does see the squad coming slowly back to health, but will still be without the midfield trio of Soumaila Coulibaly, Nikolas Ledgerwood and Christian Müller, who are respectively sidelined with a muscle tear and knee injuries.
In addition, forward Junior Ross dislocated his shoulder in the team's previous draw against Kaiserslautern, with his absence possibly giving Taylor a boost into the starting 11.
Düsseldorf has a nearly full squad, as the only injury-related absence is defender Fabian Hergesell, who is nursing a thigh injury.
Notes
Jermaine Jones is facing another seven weeks of recovery from a broken leg and will not be able to help Schalke try to keep its third-place spot as they travel to face VfL Stuttgart on Saturday afternoon.
Bryan Arguez has returned from Egypt and will likely be suiting up with the reserve team of Hertha Berlin when the first teamers visit Nürnberg on Saturday.
Luis Robles will spend Friday afternoon's encounter on the benc as second-place FC Kaiserslautern travel to Cottbus with hopes of regaining the league top spot.
Ian Joy is still awaiting his debut for FC Ingolstadt as they hit the road on Saturday afternoon to visit FC Carl Zeiss Jena. |
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