Out-of-sorts northern neighbours meet in tradition-filled duel

Focus on the visitors

Having been relegated from the Bundesliga in 2018/19, Hannover were hoping to bounce back at the first time of asking, but struggled under former HSV manager Mirko Slomka, who was sacked in November after six home games without a win. Former Sandhausen manager Kenan Kocak took over the reins and the team from Lower Saxony gradually improved, finishing fourth in the Rückrundentabelle and climbing up to sixth in the overall standings. With the momentum from the end of the 19/20 campaign alongside one of the best squads in the league, many picked 96 as strong favourites for promotion entering the season. The start to the season was satisfactory, including three wins at home on the spin. But the 3-0 win against Düsseldorf on Matchday 5 at the HDI Arena was the last for the Reds, and their two most recent games saw losses at bottom-of-the-table Würzburger Kickers and a 3-0 loss last Sunday to Holstein Kiel at the Niedersachsenstadion.

Options open for HSV as winless streak stretches to four

The Rothosen looked well on their way to avenging their first league defeat of the season last Sunday, 2-0 up after 24 minutes in Heidenheim but contrived to lose the game from a winning position. Victories for Greuther Fürth and Bochum saw the two rivals move past HSV in the table, still stuck on 17 points, but now from nine games and in third position. One positive aspect in Daniel Thioune’s favour is squad availability, only Tom Mickel (torn abdominal muscle) and Rick van Drongelen (torn ACL) missing, although the Dutchman is making good progress on his long road to recovery. This means the coaching staff have a number of tactical variations at their disposal, to try and unlock the Hannover defence, and generate a bit more movement off-the-ball than the last two displays. Perhaps more importantly a solid defence is also necessary, having conceded three against both Bochum and Heidenheim, and nine in the past four winless games.

Thioune on his message to the squad this week: "We reviewed the mistakes from the game against Heidenheim and adapted the sessions to the conclusions that we took from that analysis. If we let up in any way, we'll be punished like we were on Sunday. We have to reduce the number of individual errors."