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European Football
Preview - 01 Sep 2007
Home comforts for Hertha.
Hertha Berlin welcome a Wolfsburg side with a few familiar faces to
the Olympic Stadium. Most notable of those is ex-Hertha
playmaker Marcelinho. The Brazilian was a legend in Berlin,
but that was then, and his arrival this afternoon is more likely to
be greeted with jeers and cat-calls.
Obviously Marcelinho will be itching to prove a point, but his best
efforts could prove to be in vain if Hertha can re-produce the kind
of form which saw them come back from a goal down to convincingly
beat Stuttgart a fortnight ago.
The Berliners, like Wolfsburg themselves in recent seasons, are a
side who tend to perform significantly better in front of their own
supporters. There were some encouraging signs in last week's
defeat at Bielefeld, but Lucien Favre's men were ultimately undone
by two defensive errors.
Felix Magath's Wolfsburg have a win, loss and a draw to their name,
but aside from a cosy victory at disappointing Duisburg, they're yet
to give any real indicators that they're anything more than a
mid-table outfit. Copa America winning midfielder Josue will
be absent after his sending-off last week, while Jonathan Santana
and the highly-rated Ricardo Costa (ligament damage) are
unavailable.
With Favre now having a fully fit squad to choose from and a new
striker - Brazilian Andre Lima - to ease Marco Pantelic's workload,
expect Hertha to continue where they left off against Stuttgart.
Hertha Berlin v Wolfsburg. Saturday 14:30.
Selection - 1pt Hertha at 6/5
(general).
Ilunga
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