Two teams that have struggled significantly will go head-to-head this August 23 as Hamburger SV play hosts to VfB Stuttgart at the Volksparkstadion in Hamburg with both competing sides looking to prove to their naysayers that they still deserve their spot among the best football teams in Germany, hoping to come up with a strong showing in the first couple of weeks of the 2015-16 German Bundesliga campaign. In case you didn’t know, both of these squads did not really do anything significant last season that could have earned them a bigger fan base – with the way both Hamburg and Stuttgart basically flirted with relegation in the last title chase in the top flight. The brand new football calendar gives both of these sides a clean slate, just like everybody else in the league, and as far as their quest for vindication goes, a win in the very first match-up between these two teams in this year’s race for the championship should push the victors towards the right direction.
Yes, while FC Bayern München basically showed everyone why they are once again the standard of excellence in the Bundesliga for the third year in a row, both Hamburger SV and VfB Stuttgart showed everyone why nobody should give a crap about their bid for last season’s trophy after they virtually limped through the conclusion of what has been a horrendous campaign for both sides in the premier stage. With Hamburg and Stuttgart finishing 16th and 14th respectively, these two clubs were buried to obscurity, fortunate to do just enough to maintain their status in the league and for them to get to fight another day. Their face-off early into the Bundesliga year should let one side pave the way towards their road to redemption, and I have a feeling that when it comes to these two sides, Hamburg will probably be the hungrier one.
Hamburger SV, listed by SBOBET.com with the best football odds of *2.85 to beat VfB Stuttgart, return home to the Volksparkstadion with the proverbial chip on their shoulders after going through a two-legged playoff encounter in their last campaign just for them to keep their spot in the Bundesliga. And despite their dismal series of performances, the Red Shorts still managed to keep their place in the league after beating Karlsruher SC in dramatic fashion, 3-2, on aggregate. However, for a side with six world titles to their name in German football’s top-tier club competition, fighting for their place in the league the way Hamburg did last season is a sorry sight and you can bet your moneymaker that they would love to be in the middle of the title picture this time and re-establish their former stature as one of the best football teams that Germany has. They sure have a lot of work in front of them, especially after getting destroyed by Bayern München 5-0 in their season opener, but if they can get goals on the board, they will be on track.
Of course, with the departure of midfielder Rafael van der Vaart, probably one of the biggest threats on offence for Hamburger SV last season, the scoring responsibilities for this Hamburg outfit would now rely heavily on their 23-year-old football prodigy Pierre Michel Lasogga. They can’t afford to struggle again in putting something on that scoreboard – case in point was the way they lagged behind the frontrunners of the league last season after scoring just nine times at the halfway mark of their 2014-15 campaign. Lasogga will be the key in Hamburg’s bid to reclaim their spot at the top of the Bundesliga food chain. Can Lasogga help this franchise go back on top? With the way that they have remained conservative in their player signings during the offseason, they really don’t have much of a choice but to hope that Lasogga comes up with a dream of a season this year.
VfB Stuttgart, listed by SBOBET.com with the best football odds of *2.47 to beat Hamburger SV, head to the Volksparkstadion this August 23 also looking to redeem themselves following a disappointing 14th place finish. However, even though the Die Roten are in the same boat with Hamburg in terms of their bid to rectify the massive mistakes that they did in their last title run, Stuttgart will probably be playing with a little bit of extra oomph since Hamburg SV tried to sign away two of their key guys in Timo Baumgartl and Alexandru Maxim during the offseason, an attempt that didn’t push through with both signing contract extensions to remain in Stuttgart.
Yeah, VfB Stuttgart probably didn’t like the way that Hamburger SV almost stole two of their standouts heading towards the young 2015-16 German Bundesliga year and since they are coming off a 3-1 loss to Koln to kick off their campaign, these guys will probably be a bit more agitated too.
Bet on this match-up between Hamburger SV and VfB Stuttgart now with the best football odds available at SBOBET.com, the only place in online betting where one wallet means endless possibilities and never-ending fun.
*All odds shown are correct at time of writing
