Hamburg vs Bayer Leverkusen preview - Holtby wants to repay fans

Posted Friday, October 31, 2014 by PA

Hamburg are hoping for a timely boost at the end of a difficult week when they host Bayer Leverkusen this Saturday.

Defeat to Hertha Berlin stifled a recent recovery last weekend before they were eliminated from the DFB-Pokal at the hands of Bayern Munich on Wednesday.

Saturday's clash with high-flying Leverkusen is not likely to be any easier for Josef Zinnbauer's men, but they hope to get back to winning ways in the league with what would be their first home victory of the season.

"The fans saw a Hamburg side who never gives up and who wanted to win, and if you consider only the second half (against Bayern), then it was 1-1," said Lewis Holtby on his club's website.

"That is what we want to build on. We have got to remain positive for Saturday.

"We are fighting and that is what the people want to see in Hamburg. It's amazing when they applaud us even after a defeat.

"I love playing football and I can't wait to play again on Saturday. We want to win at long last against Leverkusen so that we can reward ourselves with the points in front of our own fans."

They will come up against a Leverkusen side who not only had to play 120 minutes against fourth division Magdeburg in the cup, but also suffered a fright in the penalty shoot-out before succeeding.

"We didn't show against Magdeburg what has made us strong recently," said Leverkusen coach Roger Schmidt.

"That is why we need to get back to playing the way we did against Zenit and Schalke if we want to get three points in Hamburg.

"We've really not got long to prepare this time and it's pretty tough with these three away games in St Petersburg, Magdeburg and Hamburg."

Playmaker Hakan Calhanoglu is a doubt for Leverkusen after picking up an injury in the first-half of Wednesday's cup tie, but Son Heung-min is available despite being shown a red card in midweek.