Match Preview vs Arminia Bielefeld

Our Opponents: 

Arminia held their own in the Bundesliga but fell out of the top division last season due to some late season drama between the lower league clubs. Some new faces including manager Uli Forte are ready to give Bielefeld a quick return to the top flight but at the moment, it’s not running to course. Three defeats from the opening three is not what most would have expected for Forte’s start to life at the Alm. The Ostwestfalen side opened their season with away defeats to Sandhausen and Rostock with a defeat to Regensburg sandwiched in the middle. A team that is not short on fire power with 2.Liga favourites Janni Serra and Fabian Klos in their ranks, recently acquired Ivan Lepinjica on loan from Rijeka in an attempt to bolster the central midfield. 
 

Match Facts 

Only one goal conceded 

Hamburger SV have conceded only one goal in their first three games in the second division, scoring the opening goal in Braunschweig (2:0) and the last goal against Heidenheim (1:0). Apart from goalkeeper Heuer Fernandes and the strong central defenders Sebastian Schonlau and Mario Vuskovic, the entire team is responsible for this. The front line also works hard against the ball, which is underlined by the best tackling rate (54.3 per cent) of all second division teams.

Glatzel in top form 

Centre forward Robert Glatzel scored all three HSV goals. The 28-year-old, who already advanced to the league's most dangerous goal scorer last season with 22 second league goals behind Simon Terodde (30), is now on a par with Paderborn's Felix Platte. In his last 21 second league games, "Bobby" currently has an extraordinary 19 goals. Against Bielefeld, however, the number 9 of the Rothosen is still goal-less and winless (one meeing in the Bundesliga and five in the 2.Liga). So it's an incentive for the goal machine. 

Rothosen Possession 

HSV is also the master of the ball in this 2.Liga  season: Walter's eleven generates almost 63 per cent possession, is the dominant team in the second division in this category and usually lets the ball and the opponent run. By comparison, Bielefeld, who were relegated from the Bundesliga, have "only" 48.1 per cent possession and rank 12th in the league.