Aside from long-term injury absentees Leonidas Stergiou, Justin Diehl and Dan-Axel Zagadou, there are also fitness concerns surrounding Josha Vagnoman ahead of Sunday’s game against TSG Hoffenheim. “It remains to be seen whether he’ll be involved,” said head coach Sebastian Hoeneß. “It’s going to be a tight call. We’ll have to wait and see tomorrow.”
Focus on the Bundesliga
With games in the UEFA Champions League coming thick and fast and several players called up for international duty later this month, the VfB squad are juggling multiple competitions this season. Hoeneß, however, insists his charges are fully focused on Sunday’s encounter. “We won’t neglect the Bundesliga,” he said. “It was the biggest competition for us last season and it remains so. I expect everyone to see things the same way and I don’t see anything stopping us from preparing for TSG as best we can.”
Following Tuesday’s decision by the DFB Sports tribunal to overturn Atakan Karazor’s dismissal for a second bookable offence against VfL Wolfsburg, Hoeneß will be able to call upon his captain this weekend. “I’m pleased Ata’s available,” said the VfB boss.
Powerful attacking side
Sunday’s game at 19:30 CEST pits VfB against a side who “aren’t doing badly”, according to Hoeneß. The Sinsheim club were 3-0 up against Werder Bremen recently, only to slip to a 4-3 defeat. “There were plenty of positives [against Bremen],” continued Hoeneß. “They followed it up with a 2-0 win in the Europa League against Dynamo Kyiv. They strengthened enormously over the summer. They’re looking good in terms of personnel and have a lot of options in attack. We’re facing a powerful side. We want to deliver a good performance and beat Hoffenheim on home soil. We’ll put in a great deal of effort to achieve that. We want to go into the international break with a positive result.”