For HSV, is the north derby coming at the wrong time? | OneFootball

On Saturday, HSV travel to Werder Bremen. The always heated North derby gains extra edge from the current league situation.

Both teams are still involved in the relegation battle. With five matchdays left in the season, Bremen are only three points above the relegation playoff spot, which has been occupied by FC St. Pauli for several weeks. HSV at least have a six-point cushion and also boast a much better goal difference. The situation is therefore promising – especially considering that many observers would not have thought this possible before the season began.

Nevertheless, skepticism around the Volkspark has grown in recent weeks. The Hanseatic side have declined more and more in footballing terms and have won only one of their last eight matches, a fortunate 2-1 victory away at VfL Wolfsburg, who are still winless in the second half of the season. The recent 0-4 thrashing by a vastly superior VfB Stuttgart marked the low point of this downward trend. Only goalkeeper Daniel Heuer Fernandes performed at his usual level.

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HSV coach Polzin targets another derby win

His teammates in front of him looked toothless in attack and, without injured defensive leader Luka Vuskovic, alarmingly shaky at the back, meaning they were ultimately fortunate that the final score was not even worse. Stuttgart, currently third, are not exactly the benchmark for a promoted side fighting to stay up, but the display raised many questions when looking at the remaining fixtures. In their last four games, HSV face only teams chasing European qualification, and with similar performances they are likely to come away empty-handed again.

Before that, however, comes the North derby away at SV Werder Bremen. Given their poor form and the possible renewed absence of Vuskovic – who scored a sensational backheel goal in the reverse fixture – the signs do not look especially encouraging. But there is also positive news. Albert Sambi Lokonga is close to returning, while Nicolás Capaldo, badly missed in recent weeks, could even be back in the starting lineup.

Nur die Raute – All the news about HSV

In addition, memories of the reverse fixture should inspire optimism. HSV won 3-2 at the Volksparkstadion in a fantastic atmosphere despite trailing at halftime. “We won the first meeting. We want to do it again,” Merlin Polzin stressed on the sidelines of a training session. For that to happen, though, his team urgently need to play with courage again when in possession and rediscover the energy level with which they even put Bayern Munich under pressure in a 2-2 draw.

Werder are standing still

By the way, things have not gone any better for their rivals from the Weser in recent weeks. The coaching change from Horst Steffen to Daniel Thioune – who worked at HSV in the 2020/21 Covid season with his then assistant Polzin and was dismissed shortly before the end of the campaign – has made no difference in terms of points. The performances, too, have remained inconsistent. As recently as Sunday, SVW lost 3-1 to 1. FC Köln and played a major part in the defeat with atrocious individual errors in the opening phase.

Photo: Getty Images

Their wins in nine matches under Thioune have come against bottom sides Heidenheim and Wolfsburg, as well as against an out-of-sorts 1. FC Union Berlin after playing with a numerical advantage for around 70 minutes; Union only recently sacked coach Steffen Baumgart. At no point have they managed to escape the danger zone. However, the very unbalanced squad would probably cause problems for any coach in the world.

On top of that, captain Marco Friedl is suspended for Saturday after a red card, and Jens Stage’s availability remains doubtful. As a box-to-box player with seven goals, he is their top scorer. So Bremen, too, go into the 158th edition of the North derby with plenty of concerns. Despite HSV’s own difficult spell, the match is by no means coming at the wrong time for them; rather, it offers a great chance to secure what is probably the last win they still need on the way to early survival.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇩🇪 here.