No end to the problems: what should give HSV hope against Leipzig | OneFootball

On Sunday, Hamburger SV play away at RB Leipzig at 3:30 p.m. The Rothosen want to claim their first win of the new season in this match after a rather mixed start to the campaign.

The defeat in Dortmund to open the season was not the problem, but rather the indefensibly poor performance against Mainz 05 a week later. Now Hamburg want to show a strong response and put Leipzig under pressure from the very start.

RB did win their first home game, but that was also against a rather weak Gladbach side from Mönchengladbach. And most recently, there was not only a defeat in Bremen, but also against Como — by a score of 1:4.

Leipzig leave openings

If there is one takeaway from Leipzig’s first few matches, it is this: RB leave openings. And they do so in different ways and at different stages of the game. Whether from set pieces, as was evident against Werder, or when teams transition quickly. Como often caught Leipzig out of shape as they played their way well out of their own defense. Two or three passes with the right timing were enough for Como to create overload situations.

Photo: IMAGO

Martin Demichelis, RB’s coach, could at times only watch in desperation as his team was picked apart. Demichelis sometimes looked at a loss; his side simply could not apply enough pressure on Como’s players and opened up spaces because they had no shape. Werder, too, occasionally reached dangerous areas with simple one-twos. In short: there are quite a few ways to trouble Leipzig.

HSV have to rediscover themselves

The biggest and most decisive point for HSV is that they need to perform again like the HSV of last season. Strong in the tackles, aggressive in the spaces between the lines, and mentally alert. What offers encouragement: players who only joined the team late have now had another week of training and should be better integrated. The fact that Fabio Vieira will probably also be able to start is another plus. He can exploit the gaps that open up, especially in midfield.

It will take a mix of fight and commitment, but also technical quality, to create chances against Leipzig. Even against Gladbach, Leipzig allowed quite a bit at home, while in Bremen and against Como their opponents had a huge number of chances. So whether HSV can get something in Leipzig depends first and foremost on the Rothosen, their approach to the game, and of course also a certain amount of luck, which you need. But that is almost always the case in the Bundesliga anyway.

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