Babbel aiming for clinical performance

Old friends reunited

Babbel will be greeted by two familiar faces from his playing days when the TSG team bus arrives at the Betzenberg stadium tomorrow. Stefan Kuntz, the Kaiserslautern General Manager, was a former teammate of Babbel's in the German national side, while the Hoffenheim boss also knows FCK manager Krasimir Balakov from his time at VfB Stuttgart. “Both of them are experienced pros and they'll be doing everything they can to save FCK." The game on Saturday is the start of a key run of fixtures for 1899. Five of their remaining six games are against teams below them in the table, starting with Lautern. “It's going to be a hard fight for us. We have to be able to stand up to those sides and take our chances.” The manager refused to get too far ahead himself by looking up the league table, but his first goal is for Hoffenheim to put some solid distance between themselves and the relegation dogfight. “We can take a big step against FCK,” says the 39-year-old.

Rudy out, Lakic in?

In terms of personnel, Babbel has good options for his team selection. The only notable absentee is Sebastian Rudy, who misses out through suspension. He was keeping tight-lipped when pressed on whether or not ex-Lautern striker Srdjan Lakic would feature for TSG. The Croatian forward has been out for four weeks since injuring his ankle against 1. FC Köln in early March. The 28-year-old has failed to score for TSG since his loan move from VfL Wolfsburg in January, but scored 15 goals for FCK as they finished 7th in the Bundesliga last season.

Stats

In view of their recent record against Kaiserslautern, Hoffenheim will feel reasonably confident when they take to the field in the Fritz Walter Stadium. They are unbeaten against FCK in their last five competitive matches. Victory for Babbel's team would take them to 37 points, three behind Wolfsburg in 9th place.

Match facts and statistics »