Analysis | Andy Brassell's bitesize European preview | TSG 1899 Hoffenheim

One of the voices of European football on talkSPORT and Sky Sports, well known for The Football Ramble podcast and a writer for The Guardian - and a regular contributor here at Spurs for almost 10 years - Andy Brassell gives us a short, sharp view of our opposition ahead of every UEFA Europa League match this season.

Next up, German side Hoffenheim in MD7, a team currently struggling at the wrong end of both the Bundesliga and the UEFA Europa League tables, but with a striker in Andrej Kramarić up there with the best...

TSG 1899 Hoffenheim (Germany)

Manager - Christian Ilzer
Domestic form - 15th of 18 in Bundesliga, one win in six before a big 3-2 win against Holstein Kiel on Saturday
Europa League form - 26th of 36 in the group phase with one win, three draws and two defeats from their six games so far
Europa League results - 1-1 v Midtjylland, 2-0 v Dynamo Kiev, 0-2 v Porto, 2-2 v Lyon, 0-3 v Braga, 0-0 v FCSB

Andy Brassell...

"Despite having a very talented squad, Hoffenheim have found it really difficult this season, which led to coach Pellegrino Matarazzo losing his job and Christian Ilzer taking over. Ilzer had an unbelievable couple of years at Sturm Graz in Austria, starting by winning the Austrian Cup and then the Austria Bundesliga last season. That was the first time in 10 years that Red Bull Salzburg hadn't won it, illustrating how much of an achievement that was. Once he arrived at Hoffenheim, he spoke a lot about culture, and the main way of doing that was to listen to the players. They beat RB Leipzig 4-3 in his first game (23 November) but it's been a bit uneven since then. After they lost 5-0 against Bayern Munich last week, striker Andrej Kramaric, their talisman and most experienced player, said how disappointed he was, and that he felt they were in genuine danger of relegation. They are a club that has been in European competition a lot over the last 10 years, they've played Champions League football but, at the moment, the Bundesliga has to be their priority. They won 3-1 at Holstein Kiel at the weekend, where Kramaric scored again, and they have the forward players to make life difficult for most teams. Gift Orban has just arrived from Lyon, smart, inventive, a good finisher, but he won't be available for this one. Kramaric is the one to watch, an amazing player for them, real status, their record goalscorer of all time. He scored a hat-trick on the opening day of the Bundesliga, and there are only two other players who have achieved that feat - Gerd Muller, Klaus Fischer, and now Kramaric. Quality has never really been Hoffenheim's issue but, this season, they've conceded bad goals and, as always, they are looking to Kramaric to prop them up."