Preview: Hoffenheim vs. Slovan Liberec - prediction, team news, lineups

Hoffenheim host Slovan Liberec in Group L of the Europa League with the German side looking to extend their winning run and lead at the top of the group.

The two sides were at different ends of one-sided results in the last matchday, with Hoffenheim winning 4-1 at Gent and Slovan Liberec losing 5-1 to Red Star Belgrade.

Match preview

Hoffenheim have made a terrific start to what is only the club's third European campaign in their history, winning both of their opening matches to lead the group.

Sebastian Hoeness's side were comfortable when dispatching Red Star 2-0, restricting the Serbian side to zero shots on target and only 39% possession, with Christoph Baumgartner and Munas Dabbur's second-half strikes proving the difference on the day.

Hoffenheim showed their attacking capabilities when thrashing Gent 4-1 away from home, testing the opposition goalkeeper on 15 occasions and having 33 shots in total.

However, they were downed 3-1 at home to Union Berlin at the weekend, so Hoeness will be imploring his side to bounce back with a victory to wrap up qualification to the knockout stages as quickly as possible.

Slovan Liberec, meanwhile, are competing in the Europa League group stage for the first time since the 2016-17 campaign, having last reached the knockout stage in 2013-14.

After beating Gent 1-0 despite only having 29% possession, the Czech Republic side were thrashed 5-1 at Red Star on matchday two. The defeat was a crushing blow to their chances of qualifying for the knockout stages once more, with Pavel Hotfych likely of the belief that the 1991 European Cup winners are his main competitors for second spot in the group.

Indeed, Hoffenheim are likely to represent a stiffer challenge given their financial backing and recent form in the competition. Hotfych will almost certainly deploy a defensive strategy in order to contain the opposition and hope for a positive result.

His side, who have an astonishing seven players on loan from Slavia Prague, must improve dramatically on their last away showing if they are to have any chance of executing their manager's gameplan.

Hoffenheim Europa League form: WW Hoffenheim form (all competitions): LLWDWL

Slovan Liberec Europa League form: WWWWL Slovan Liberec form (all competitions): LWWWWL

Team News

It remains to be seen whether Andrej Kramaric returns to the side for this match, having missed the defeat to Union Berlin at the weekend. The Croatian striker has not featured since testing positive for coronavirus during the international break last month.

Ermin Bicakcic is a long-term absentee having ruptured his cruciate ligament, with Kostas Stafylidis, Benjamin Hubner, Pavel Kaderabek and Kasim Adams all out of action until after the forthcoming international break.

Hotfych, meanwhile, appears to be in the enviable position of having no injuries to any first-team players.

His main decision, then, will be whether to utilise two strikers which worked effectively against Gent, or pack the midfield as he did unsuccessfully at Red Star.

Hoffenheim possible starting lineup: Baumann; Posch, Vogt, Akpoguma; Skov, Samassekou, Grillitsch, Rudy, Sessegnon; Bebou, Belfodil

Slovan Liberec possible starting lineup: Nguyen; Koscelnik, Chalus, Tijani, Mikula; Matousek, Mara, Hromada, Sadilek, Mosquera; Yusuf

We say: Hoffenheim 2-0 Slovan Liberec

It is difficult to see beyond a comfortable home win here, even if Hoeness may have one eye on improving his side's Bundesliga form at the weekend.

Slovan Liberec were dismantled at Red Star, so Hotfych may be content with keeping the scoreline down in a narrow defeat.

Top betting tip

Our expert tipster partners at Sporita.com are predicting over 2.5 goals in this match. Click here to find out what else they are predicting for this game and for more of their tried-and-tested football tips.Over 2.5:data