The first matchday - two away trips = two away wins?

So, here we are.
Tomorrow, both teams will play, simultaneously of course...

First, at 3.30pm German time, Hannover will kick off in Freiburg to hopefully end a very poor run of away results. As good as we have been at home this season, we have been pretty rubbish away. We are 17th in the away table with one win and one draw. That is awful and needs urgent improvement. The best way to start is against a side that will probably fight against relegation until the very end this season, SC Freiburg

Our recent form in the league hasn't been the greatest: Just one win in the last 6 matches (against Bayern) and 4 games without a win is not good enough for us. The run-in to the winter break looks promising though. Freiburg (A), Leverkusen (H) and Kaiserslautern (A) in the league, the dead rubber against Poltava (H) in the Europa League are our last games for the year.

I may sound a bit greedy or unrealistic here, but I expect us to get 7 of a possible 9 in the league games. Wins against Freiburg and Kaiserslautern should be more than possible and to secure our unbeaten record at home I'll go for at least a draw in the Leverkusen tie.

In terms of team news it's doubtful whether Lars Stindl will play a role in Freiburg, after he suffered a knock on the ankle in the match against Liege. I hope he gets fit but even without him we should be able to win the match. And that should keep us in contention for the European places. A draw or loss would be a major set-back.



Only 30 minutes after kick-off in Freiburg, things get interesting in Wigan. A place for slip-ups in the past, Arsenal has to make sure their run of form won't take a bigger dip than necessary. After the encouraging performance in the Carling Cup this might wake up the first team after the game against Fulham to get back on the winning side. Things are very tight in the race for 3rd and 4th spot, so we need to make as many points as possible and then hope for the others to slip up. With our first team rested and back in, Wigan normally shouldn't pose a problem. Our back looks solid, something you wouldn't have said just after the Chelsea game, and RVP returns to the squad to score. It sounds cynical, but that is sadly the way it is at the moment. I'd love someone else to score, mind. After Wigan, fixtures get tougher so it would be great to get the form intact.

I'll try and keep track of as much as possible. Maybe I'll get summaries of the games on Saturday night, but certainly on Sunday. So look out for that and be so kind to leave me feedback (positive and negative) either here in the comments or via twitter @Ansgarius_90. Thanks.

Here's me hoping for 6 points tomorrow.

Come on you Reds! Both of you!