FÜRTH FACT FILE
Thursday, 11. May 2017, 10:00 Uhr
Greuther Fürth are the visitors for the final home game of the season this Sunday (kick-off: 1530 CET). As usual, we've put a few facts together about our opponents to set you up for the game.
Injury problems
Fürth coach Janos Radoki is without several players as the season draws to a close. Attacking men Sebastian Freis (knee operation), Sercan Sararer (groin operation), Robert Zujl (dental surgery), Khaled Narey and Veton Berisha (muscle problems) are all injured, while Benedikt Kirsch is suspended. To make matters worse, Serdar Dursun, Fürth's leading scorer with nine goals, and Nicolai Rapp both picked up their fifth booking of the season in the 1-0 home defeat against Karlsruhe last week and will be unavailable at the Millerntor.
Nine-match run
Though Fürth have taken just four points from their last five games, losing three, they had previously gone nine unbeaten (five wins, four draws). Only Eintracht Braunschweig, Hannover 96 and Union Berlin have also managed to go nine games without defeat. Hannover have a chance to extend their run to ten, however, if they avoid defeat against Stuttgart on Sunday.
Toothless once behind
Along with Kickers Würzburg and FC Kaiserslautern, Fürth are one of just three teams who have yet to win a match after falling behind. The Shamrocks have had to chase the game 16 times this season. Twelve of these encounters ended in defeat, with the other four finishing all square.
On target in stoppage time
Fürth lead the way when it comes to finding the net in time added on. They have scored four times at this stage of the game so far, the best return in the league along with promotion chasers Stuttgart, Braunschweig and Hannover.
Strong-tackling trio
The Shamrocks have conceded 37 goals in 32 games this term, the eighth best defensive record in the league. Centre-backs Marcel Franke and Marco Caligiuri have had a major hand in this. Caligiuri has won 66.1 per cent of his 357 duels to put him in fifth spot in this category. Franke comes in one place behind the Fürth captain, having won 65.5 per cent of his 354 challenges. Left-back Nico Giesselmann is another one to impress in this area, winning 326 of 521 duels (62.6 per cent/11th place).
Little from the flanks
No other team has hit fewer crosses this season than Fürth – 99 from the left and 114 from the right. By comparison, Fortuna Düsseldorf have put in 379 deliveries in 32 games, Aue 378. The Boys in Brown have racked up a total of 334 crosses to put them in sixth place.
Photos: Witters
