Hannover 96 vs TSG Hoffenheim Betting Tips and Predictions

Hannover 96’s survival hopes were a long shot when coach Daniel Stendel replaced Thomas Schaaf at the start of the April and it came as no surprise for the club or fans that they didn’t do so. Despite already being doomed to relegation and the second tier of German football for the first time in 14 years, Hannover put in a brave performance in their 3-1 loss to Schalke 04 last weekend. This was Hannover’s first defeat under their new permanent coach Daniel Stendel (W1 D2 L1), who has earned more points in five matches than his predecessor was able to do in the last 14 Bundesliga matches (W1 L13) before him. Hannover play only for pride in their last top flight home match before heading down for second flight football indefinitely.

TSG Hoffenheim have had some emotional swings to endure this season. After a solid top 10 finish last season, Hoffenheim began the season poorly and occupied an automatic relegation place uninterrupted for seventeen matchdays until mid-March. Hoffenheim bounced back to form, after their defeat in a difficult fixture against Borussia Mönchengladbach, with a 2-1 win at home to FC Ingolstadt last weekend. Hoffenheim are one of the most in-form sides in the Bundesliga and have taken 16 point from their last seven matches (W5 D1 L1). Hoffenheim’s “Great Escape” from relegation remains probable thanks to the revolutionary work of the Bundesliga’s youngest ever coach, Julian Nagelsmann. Hoffenheim stand four points above both Eintracht Frankfurt in the relegation play-off position and Stuttgart in the last remaining automatic relegation spot. Hoffenheim can, therefore, secure themselves another season in the top flight with a win on Saturday.

Hannover 96 may be regretting not replacing former coach Thomas Schaaf sooner after their equally impressive turn around by coach Daniel Stendel. Hannover may be heading down to the second division for the first time in 14 years, but at least they are going down with some dignity after having shown impressive performances in the last few weeks. TSG Hoffenheim should, nonetheless, be very confident coming into this match: they are the more in-form side and have more to play for, it is likely Hannover will continue to experiment with some squad rotation in preparation for next season, and Hoffenheim have an unbelievable track record of five consecutive Bundesliga wins against Hannover. Both sides are also in decent goal-scoring form; Hoffenheim have scored at least 1 goal in each of their last twelve matches and have averaged 2 goals per game in their last five. Meanwhile, Hannover 96 have turned around their goal drought under their new coach, also scoring at least 1 goal in each of their last five matches and averaging 1.75 goals per game over the same period.

Combining the form trends and above analysis with the statistics below, we expect both teams to score and over 2.5 goals to be the safe bet for this match as Hoffenheim aim to secure themselves another season in the Bundesliga, while Hannover fight for pride in front of their home fans. We feel Hoffenheim has the edge with their strong recent records against Hannover, however, and therefore a final result of Hoffenheim win 3-1 at 12/1 (Hannover’s most common defeat result at home and Hoffenheim’s most win result away) seems top value in this match.

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