Hannover 96 vs Eintracht Braunschweig Preview: Niedersachsen rivals meet with top spot on the line

Derby day. It always carries the usual tensions, special rituals and anticipation that anyone would expect. However, not just bragging rights will be on the line come Saturday.

Hannover 96 play host to Eintracht Braunschweig at the HDI-Arena, with the two Niedersachsen clubs separated by a single point and place, in third and second respectively.

Hosts hopeful of keeping up good home form

After some changes in the club's hierarchy since the Winter Break, things have steadied once again in Hannover. Just a point off top spot, they are well-placed to force their way through with six games to go and make an immediate Bundesliga return. However, their run-in could yet cause a few slip-ups along the way.

With Braunschweig and VfB Stuttgart still to come, as well as tricky away trips to Erzgebirge Aue and 1. FC Heidenheim, the Reds will need to remain fully focused. They do have one of the best squads in the league, though, and would look well positioned to survive in the top tier with their current crop of players.

In the previous set of fixtures against the aforementioned sides, Hannover took 10 from a possible 12 points. A similar haul from the next run of games would see them installed as clear favourites for promotion and, perhaps, as the team to come away with the title, too.

The curious decision to sack Daniel Stendel seems to have worked, with André Breitenreiter taking seven points from a possible nine games. His perfect start came to an end at Würzburger Kickers last weekend, although Martin Harnik came within the width of the post from winning the game and keeping the Reds top of the table.

Harnik has carried the burden of Hannover's goalscoring throughout the season with an impressive 14, although Kenan Karaman also deserves a mention. Rarely managing the full 90 minutes and frequently used as an impact sub, he has still put in an impressive shift with six goals and six assists. His introduction late on could prove decisive.

Braunschweig keep pulling out results

A win is a win is a win. That's the motto that Eintracht Braunschweig have been living by in recent weeks. If you include Ken Reichel, that is. For a side that has only lost once since Matchday 16 and their 3-2 triumph over Arminia Bielefeld, where they sat top of the table, things haven't gone to plan for Torsten Lieberknecht's men.

That started a run of five games without a victory, nothing to concerning, but it was against teams all below them in the table. Given that the Lions had to face four of the current top five in their run in, fans may have been forgiven for thinking that they had missed the boat on a possible Bundesliga return.

However, they managed to steer away from trouble and have now won five of their last seven games to take them back into promotion contention and joint top of 2. Bundesliga. It hasn't come easy, though, as all of those victories required winners in the 71st minute or later - three of which came after the 90th minute.

It has been the old guard and, arguably, their eading light in attack who has helped guide them back to the top. Mirko Boland and Reichel - the latter with two unstoppable strikes in the 92nd minute in their previous two home games - as well as Onel Hernandez have stepped up massively in recent weeks.

That doesn't do justice for the likes of Quirin Moll, Saulo Decarli, Jasmin Fejzic and Gustav Valsvik who have been equally important in steadying the defence. Given the strength in defence and midfield for both of the Lower Saxony sides, Saturday's meeting could be feisty, physical and attritional.

Last meeting

Only the fourth game since the turn of the century took place between these two earlier on in the season, and it didn't disappoint. Incredible displays of passion in the stands were matched by those on the pitch as Hannover overturned a two-nil deficit to comeback and rescue a share of the spoils.

Reichel, Hernandez, Karaman and Harnik were on the scoresheet that day, but will it be the turn of Christoffer Nyman and Domi Kumbela or Niclas Füllkrug and Felix Klaus to be the heroes this weekend? It's been a very even fixture down the years, with Hannover winning 16 of the 43 meetings, and the Lions coming out on top in 14.

Team news

Hannover confirmed in their pre-match press conference that only Noah Joel Sarenren Bazee (knee), would not be fit to face Lieberknecht's men. They also said that all those were were not injured for the long-term - Charliston Benschop, Stefan Strandberg and Mike Steven Bähre - would be available for selection.

Braunschweig, on the other hand, have an almost fully fit squad to choose from. Only Marcel Correia is unavailable, and will be absent for the remainder of the season, as he remains sidelined with an ankle problem. They do have Moll back after his suspension, and he should slot in alongside Boland in central midfield.