Europa League: Fulham - Hamburg

Posted Thursday, April 29, 2010 by Goal.com

With the tie delicately poised, the Cottagers go into this encounter on level terms with an HSV side who have just lost their coach.

Kick Off: Thursday, April 20, 2010. 21:05 CET
Craven Cottage, London

On The Brink Of History

Thursday’s encounter between Fulham and Hamburg promises to be a huge clash for both sides. The Cottagers, who battled to a 0-0 draw in Germany last week, will be aiming to qualify for their first ever continental final, while HSV are only one win away from the unique chance to play the competition’s concluding match on home soil.

Amiable home coach Roy Hodgson has made few bones about his desire to see Fulham excel in the Europa League, making wholesale changes to his side for the weekend’s domestic game against Everton, which was only lost 2-1 at the very last gasp.

Known for their excellent record at Craven Cottage, where the likes of Liverpool, Manchester United and Juventus have all be soundly thumped this season, the Premier League club will certainly limber up for the midweek tie full of confidence. Speaking after last week’s draw in Hamburg, Hodgson was upbeat over his side’s chances of progressing.

“We’ve been given enormous help from the fans in our home games and I’m sure they’ll be turning up in great numbers to cheer us on,” he told ESPN. "The tie is still very open, 0-0 is not such a bad result for Hamburg because if they do score away from home then we’ll have to score two.”

Despite the former Inter coach’s warnings, Fulham have managed to score more than once at home in each round since the group phase (during which they never actually managed to score more than one home goal), and if they can maintain such a record, it is likely they will have done enough to progress against opponents in turmoil.

Changes

Bruno Labbadia finally paid for the dire league form of HSV on Monday when he was sacked from his post as head coach of the club. A dire run of results domestically has seen Hamburg tumble down to seventh in the Bundesliga table, and an especially poor 5-1 defeat against Hoffenheim at the weekend proved to be the final straw for the club.

Ricardo Moniz has since taken charge of the side on a temporary basis, but he has a big job on his hands to reverse the negative trend on the home front. In Europe, on the other hand, die Rothosen have been going along fairly steadily. Belgian sides Standard Liege and Anderlecht were dismissed, while last week’s scoreless draw at the HSH Nordbank Arena certainly doesn’t rule out a shock on Thursday night.

Labbadia was confident that the scoreless outcome last week wasn’t a poor result, and his thoughts were echoed by players such as defender Joris Mathijsen, who seemed fairly content with the outcome. “There are certainly worse results,” the Dutchman said to the press after the game, before lamenting his side’s inability to convert chances – something that has plagued them throughout the campaign.

Finding the net in foreign lands hasn’t necessarily been such a big issue for HSV, as the 30-year-old was swift to point out. “In the last three European away games we have scored a total of eight goals. In London, we will score our goal, I'm sure,” he explained.

If Hamburg can register first, it could be a difficult evening for Fulham, who won’t know exactly what to expect from their German guests.

FORM GUIDE

Fulham

LOST 2-1 (a) Everton (Premier League, April 25)

DREW 0-0 (a) Hamburg (Europa League, April 22)

DREW 0-0 (h) Wolverhampton Wanderers (Premier League, April 17)

DREW 0-0 (a) Liverpool (Premier League, April 11)

WON 1-0 (a) Wolfsburg (Europa League, April 8)

Hamburg

LOST 5-1 (a) Hoffenheim (Bundesliga, April 25)

DREW 0-0 (h) Fulham (Europa League, April 22)

LOST 1-0 (h) Mainz (Bundesliga, April 17)

WON 2-1 (a) Bochum (Bundesliga, April 11)

WON 3-1 (a) Standard Liege (Europa League, April 8)

TEAM NEWS

Fulham

Andrew Johnson is a long-term problem for Fulham, while Nicky Shorey and Stefano Okaka and John Paintsil are ineligible for this fixture. Otherwise, only Bobby Zamora is struggling for fitness, and he’s likely to try to play through the pain of an Achilles tendon problem.

Chris Baird id suspended after picking up a card in the first leg.

Probable Starting XI: Schwarzer; Davies, Hangeland, Hughes, Konchesky; Duff, Etuhu, Murphy, Dempsey; Gera, Zamora

Hamburg

Ricardo Moniz has a number of selection issues to concern himself with ahead of this match. Key figures such as Eljero Elia and Marcell Jansen lead an injury list that also contains Romeo Castelen, Tunay Torun and Collin Benjamin, though there is hope that right-back Guy Demel will be able to shake off a knock in time to feature.

Piotr Trochowski is suspended.

Probable Starting XI: Rost; Demel, Mathijsen, Boateng, Aogo; Tesche, Ze Roberto, Jarolim, Pitroipa; Petric, Van Nistelrooy

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Fulham

Damien Duff is one of the players who have had their career rejuvenated under Roy Hodgson’s stewardship, and the veteran Irishman will look to be one of the protagonists of a home win on Thursday. He struck what proved to be the winning goal in the Cottagers’ last home European match against Wolfsburg, and he would doubtless relish similar success against German opposition again.

Hamburg

Jerome Boateng will be handed a great responsibility in the heart of the HSV defence. The 21-year-old German international cannot make a slip or else it could prove costly for his team against a Fulham side who have been efficient in front of goal in recent European matches. Big things are expected of the young defender, and it is in matches like this he has to start to deliver.

PREDICTION

HSV are in something of a state of disarray, but the loss of Bruno Labbadia may just spark them into some kind of form. It’s more likely that the English side, who are generally so reliable at home, will manage to battle their way through to the final. Roy Hodgson’s side will certainly have to be vigilant though.

Fulham 2-0 Hamburg