Gideon Jung Set To Replace Greek International Kyriakos Papadopoulos As Hamburg Face Hoffenheim

Ghanaian-born Hamburg defender Gideon Jung is set to replace Greek international Kyriakos Papadopoulos as the two sides clash on Saturday afternoon.

With Bayern Munich already emerging as runaway winners of the Bundesliga, the race for who picks a ticket to European club competition is on the high.

Hoffenheim will seek to boost their European ambitions by pushing Hamburg closer to relegation on Saturday.

Hamburg's hopes of catching Mainz in the relegation play-off place are growing after they collected four points from their past two matches.

Their 3-2 win over Schalke last weekend came at a cost, however, as Greek defender Kyriakos Papadopoulos must serve a ban after getting his 10th booking of the campaign, Gideon Jung could be the man to replace him.

In-form Hoffenheim earned a 1-1 draw at high flyers Eintracht Frankfurt last time out but top goalscorer Mark Uth must sit out Matchday 30 after picking up a fifth yellow card of the season against the Eagles.

That could allow Kerem Demirbay to make his first start since returning from injury for a Hoffenheim side that scored nine goals without reply in their last two home games against Wolfsburg and Cologne.

Hoffenheim will be looking to win the game to move up close to the top 4 position while Hamburg expects a win to lift themselves from the bottom.

Jung will, therefore, be faced with a tough responsibility of filling the gap for Kyriakos and must be resolute to ensure the Hamburgers accomplish their mission.