By Matias Bengolo
Another week and another 2. Bundesliga preview. We are just one week away from the ’10 games to go’ mark.
Friday 18th February – all kick-offs 18:30 local
FC Schalke 04 vs SC Paderborn 07
Schalke’s last match was an away trip to a Fortuna Düsseldorf team who had new coach Daniel Thioune on the dugout for the first time. Although the opening half was very promising for Fortuna and Thioune, with 63% possession and 8 shots to Schalke’s 4, they still went into the break with a deficit. At the tough times this season for Schalke, their individual quality has shone. Just before half-time, Zalazar showed his quality as the on-loan from Frankfurt attacking-midfielder drove past two Düsseldorf defenders, crossing to Terodde who missed the ball but Blendi Idrizi was there at the right time to poke it in the net. Fortuna showed grit and determination even after losing at the break, and levelled with Narey on 48 minutes. Fortuna won the ball back in opposition territory, Narey won the footrace with Kaminski and slotted the ball in. Fortuna led just 10 minutes later as Narey turned from scorer to contributor, his cross found Hennings, the striker smashed the ball past Martin Fraisl. Fortuna managed to hold on for a huge victory which still doesn’t take them out of the bottom 3 but is a great start for Daniel Thioune.
SC Paderborn 07 are the best team away from home in the 2. Bundesliga, but cannot buy a victory at home. The 0-0 draw against Dynamo Dresden meant Paderborn haven’t won in five matches at home. SCP dominated the game, creating 19 attempts, but could only test the Dresden keeper on four occasions. The best chance was created with a few minutes of the game to go, as Kai Pröger’s cross found Felix Platte who couldn’t convert from a few yards out. The draw means Paderborn have only won once in their last nine league matches, and are looking increasingly likely to finish in a mid-table position for the second consecutive season.
Paderborn are yet to defeat Schalke 04 in their history, with the Gelsenkirchen club winning six of the seven matches between the two clubs. Schalke beat Lukas Kwasniok’s team 1-0 in the reverse fixture, that match was the first time Grammozis and Kwasniok faced each other. In terms of league position, there are five points between Schalke and Paderborn. Schalke are in 5th position while ‘schwarz-und-blau’ sit in 8th. This should be a fascinating match to kick-off the weekend. Paderborn are desperate for a win after only one in their last nine matches, while Schalke are looking for three points after their disappointment last weekend.
Expected line-ups
FC Schalke 04: Fraisl – Itakura, Sané, M. Kaminski – Matriciani, Palsson, Ouwejan – Churlinov, Drexler – Terodde, Bülter
SC Paderborn 07: Huth – Yalcin, van der Werff, Hünemeier, Justvan – Schallenberg, Thalhammer – Srbeny, Klement, Muslija – Pröger
SG Dynamo Dresden vs FC Heidenheim
Dresden are poor away from home and won only their 9th point on their travels. At the Rudolf-Harbig-Stadion, however, Dynamo are better. They have five wins from ten matches, and that places then 11th in the home table.
FC Heidenheim went to Hamburg with a four-game unbeaten run, and with the aim of snapping HSV’s amazing home record at the Volksparkstadion. Heidenheim did have their own away record to improve, as they have only managed to collect 13 points from 10 away games. This became 13 points in 11 games as HSV defeated Heidenheim quite easily. The reverse fixture was a 0-0 and the first half of the match at the Volksparkstadion felt the same. HSV dominated possession, with 8 attempts and no goals. Heidenheim had a few opportunities, but both teams weren’t creating great chances, both had stern defenses. The first goal was to be the turning point, and HSV found it. Faride Alidou’s effort was parried by Kevin Müller and Sonny Kittel was in the right place at the right time to knock it in. The second goal sealed it just 15 minutes later, Jonas Föhrenbach clipped Bakery Jatta in the back, and the referee gave a penalty. Kittel doubled his account and the lead, and HSV won the game comfortably.
In the head-to-head record, there is a tie between Dresden and Heidenheim. Both teams have five wins, with three draws. It’s the battle of the Schmidts in Dresden, both Alex Schmidt and Frank Schmidt have beaten each other once. There are six places between the two teams, Dresden are comfortably in mid-table, while Heidenheim are still right there in the promotion fight. 12 points separate both sides. I’ve mentioned FCH’s poor away form in previous articles, and they have only picked up 13 points from 11 away matches this season.
Expected line-ups
SG Dynamo Dresden: Mitryushkin – R. Becker, Sollbauer, Ehlers, C. Löwe – Y. Stark, Kade – M. Schröter, Batista Meier, Königsdörffer – Daferner
FC Heidenheim: Ke. Müller – Busch, P. Mainka, Hüsing, Föhrenbach – Burnic, Theuerkauf – Leipertz, Schöppner, T. Mohr – Kühlwetter
Saturday 19th February – all kick-offs 13:30 local unless specified
SV Werder Bremen vs FC Ingolstadt
Werder Bremen travelled to Rostock and faced a team that was full of confidence after their huge 4-1 victory in Dresden. That confidence really shone in the first half for Hansa, only allowing a red-hot Werder team 6 shots in the first half. That is the lowest first half attempts in Ole Werner’s tenure as Werder Bremen. However, as they’ve done under Werner so far, Bremen found a way to score. Romano Schmid found Ducksch who had moved a little bit wider in the box, and Ducksch shot a fantastic curling effort which looped over Kolke and in. Sometimes, that individual quality is enough to win close games. Hansa pushed forward in the second half, and as the half went on, pushed forward more. This created fast breaks for Werder, and one ended with a goal. Ducksch became creator as he found Füllkrug, whose low drive from outside the box wasn’t stopped by Kolke. Hansa weren’t going down without a fight, and substitute Robin Meißner kick-started the fightback with a really good finish on his left foot. Werder Bremen managed to hold on, showing that Ole Werner’s team have passed many more tests than just scoring goals.
Ingolstadt won a point against Sandhausen last weekend. After their incredible 5-0 victory in Nürnberg, FCI needed to back that up with a good result, especially when facing another relegation rival in Sandhausen. However, Ingolstadt failed to even have a shot on goal. That may seem harsh as a 73 minute double yellow from Hans Sarpei forced Rudiger Rehm to adjust defensively, but the game lacked flow. There were a total of 33 fouls which means 33 free-kicks, and the game was just stop-start. A goal would’ve helped the game, but both teams just didn’t want to lose. It wasn’t a good game, but Ingolstadt really had to win.
Werder Bremen are rolling with Ole Werner and are looking for their 8th victory in a row. Ingolstadt have actually kept a clean sheet in their last two matches and could become unbeaten in three without defeat. In terms of the head-to-head, six games have been played and Werder have won four; Ingolstadt have beaten Werder on two occasions. Ole Werner and Rudiger Rehm have one win apiece. Bremen are 7th in the home table, although they have improved with Werner as coach. Ingolstadt are playing their first away game since the 5-0, and they are still last in the away table with only 7 points. 27 points separate both, Bremen sit in 2nd while Ingolstadt are still rock bottom. You would expect Bremen to carry on their streak and easily defeat this Ingolstadt side, but I expect Ingolstadt to be competitive. As we saw in the 5-0 this team can compete and be very dangerous. Bremen did win the reverse fixture 3-0, and I’d expect this to be comfortable for them, but not fully.
Expected line-ups
SV Werder Bremen: Pavlenka – Veljkovic, Toprak, Friedl – Weiser, C. Groß, A. Jung – Rapp, Schmid – Füllkrug, Ducksch
FC Ingolstadt: Stojanovic – Heinloth, Stevanovic, Musliu, D. Franke – Keller – Cavadias, Pick – Röhl – Va. Sulejmani, Eckert Ayensa
Holstein Kiel vs Karlsruher SC
Holstein Kiel faced the worst form team in the division last week, going to a snowy Erzgebirgsstadion. Kiel took some time to settle in the snow, with Aue applying pressure early on. Aue had a couple of corners and a few shots on goal. The game had its first goal on 18 minutes. It went the way of the Storks. Fabian Reese’s low-driven cross was a struggle for the Aue defense to see, and Fin Bartels timed his run to perfection. The cross was excellent, with the ball weighted just perfectly for Bartels to collect and finish. It was a lovely goal, with help from the weather too. Aue responded quite well and Kiel didn’t have many more chances in the first half. However, they were 2-0 up. A cross from Julian Korb was cleared by Gonther – into his own goal. It was a goal that summed Erzgebirge Aue up, one that for all their hard work, they concede like that. The game seemingly ended as a contest on the stroke of half-time, Soufiane Messeguem decided to tackle Phil Neumann completely out of control with the studs showing, giving referee Max Burda no choice but to send him off. Holstein Kiel controlled the second half, however never testing Martin Männel but holding 67% of the ball. Aue were given a lifeline when Nikola Trujic’s nice left-footed finish made the game 1-2. Then, Aue levelled the game! Jan Hochscheidt scored an amazing solo goal, turning past two Kiel players and then striking the ball low and hard into the corner of the goal. Kiel found a winner from a corner with two minutes to spare, Kwasi Wriedt with a goal from close range. An extremely valiant effort from Aue but Kiel made it 6 games unbeaten.
Karlsruher SC battled back from the disappointment of the 2-0 defeat to Sandhausen with a magnificent performance against FC Nürnberg. Even after Johannes Geis’ goal on 29 minutes which gave Nürnberg the lead, Karlsruhe dominated affairs. Phillip Hofmann’s half-volley kick-started the Kalrsruhe onslaught, which resulted in another three goals. Benjamin Goller netted on 55 minutes, Hofmann gave KSC a 3-1 lead just 4 minutes later. The win would be capped off with a Marvin Wanitzek penalty just before full-time. Exceptional performances from Philipp Hofmann, Marvin Wanitzek, Benjamin Goller, Philip Heise and Marco Theide spurred KSC on to their first victory in five 2. Bundesliga matches.
The battle of the mid-table teams have seen two wins for both in history, with one draw. Two points distinct both teams and a win for either would give leeway. Kiel are 10th in the home table with 17 points from 11 games. Karlsruhe sit 15th in the away table and have only won 2 out of 10 matches on their travels this season. The last match was a 2-2 draw in September. Kiel will want revenge after Karlsruhe defeated the Storks on matchday 33 last season, when Kiel only needed one win to secure promotion (if Paderborn beat Fürth). This will be an interesting game, there has been a lot of goals between both teams in the H2H and if anything, I’d go for a high-scoring draw.
Expected line-ups
Holstein Kiel: Dähne – Neumann, Thesker, Komenda – Sander – Korb, Mühling, Porath, Reese – Bartels, Pichler
Karlsruher SC: Gersbeck – Thiede, Kobald, O’Shaughnessy, Heise – Wanitzek, Breithaupt, Gondorf – Goller, P. Hofmann, Choi
That concludes the more in-depth look at the teams recently, a feature that will come out every week for the 2. Bundesliga preview. I will look at the first four matches in more detail. The second half of the preview will consist of statistics from the official 2. Bundesliga website.
SV Sandhausen vs Hamburger SV
HSV won four of the seven games against Sandhausen, but also suffered two serious defeats against the Kurpfälzer. In 2020/21, Hamburg could have jumped to third place with a win at SVS on matchday 29, but lost 2-1 and ended up fourth. In 2019/20, the Rothosen remained fourth due to the 1-5 home defeat against Sandhausen on the last day of the game – one point would have been enough to displace Heidenheim from third place.
In the first leg of the current season, outnumbered Hamburg struggled to win 2-1. After yellow-red against Marcel Ritzmaier, David Kinsombi gave the Rothosen the lead with a penalty, but Sandhausen equalized in the 87th minute through Janik Bachmann. Moritz Heyer redeemed HSV in the 6th minute of added time with his goal to make it 2-1.
Sandhausen’s new signing Erich Berko scored his last second division goal in April 2021 against HSV, scoring for Darmstadt in a 2-1 away win at Volkspark.
Expected line-ups
SV Sandhausen: Drewes – Diekmeier, Dumic, Zhirov, Okoroji – Zenga, Trybull, Bachmann – Ajdini, Berko – Testroet
Hamburger SV: Heuer Fernandes – Heyer, Vuskovic, Schonlau, Muheim – Meffert – Reis, Kittel – Jatta, Glatzel, Alidou
1. FC Nürnberg vs SSV Jahn Regensburg – 20:30 local
So far there have been 25 Nuremberg victories in 37 competitive games between the two clubs and Regensburg has only won three times. But the Jahn is currently unbeaten for six games against ‘Der Club’! In addition to five draws, there was a 1-0 win in the last guest appearance in Nuremberg in January 2021 thanks to a late goal by Andreas Albers, it was Regensburg’s historically first away win in Nürnberg.
Only one of 37 competitive games against Nürnberg in which Regensburg did not concede a goal. In the first leg of the current season, SSV and FCN separated 2-2 after changing the lead. Nikola Dovedan scored in the first leg to make it 2-2, but the Austrian has not won any of his nine second division games against Regensburg (4 draws, 5 defeats).
Expected line-ups
1. FC Nürnberg: Mathenia – Valentini, Schindler, Sörensen, Handwerker – Geis – Krauß, Tempelmann – Möller Daehli – Dovedan, Schäffler
SSV Jahn Regensburg: A. Meyer – Saller, S. Breitkreuz, Kennedy, Guwara – Gimber, Besuschkow – Beste, Singh – D. Otto, Albers
Sunday 20th February – all kick-offs 13:30 local
Fortuna Düsseldorf vs FC Erzgebirge Aue
Aue has lost all of the last seven competitive games against Düsseldorf and has not had such a negative series against any other current second division team. Conversely, Düsseldorf cannot boast such a good series against any other current second division team. Aue has not won against Fortuna for eight competitive games and last won against Düsseldorf in February 2015 (3-2 away win with doubles Bobby Wood).
In total, there were 15 Düsseldorf wins in 22 competitive games between the two teams and only four successes for Aue. At home, Fortuna has won nine of eleven home games against the Erzgebirge team. In the first leg, a penalty converted by Rouwen Hennings gave the Fortunes a 1-0 away win in Aue.
Expected line-ups
Fortuna Düsseldorf: Kastenmeier – M. Zimmermann, Hoffmann, de Wijs, Gavory – Sobottka, Piotrowski – Narey, Peterson – Ginczek, Hennings
FC Erzgebirge Aue: Männel – Barylla, Gonther, Bussmann – Strauß, Riese, Fandrich, Carlson – Nazarov – Jonjic, Trujic
SV Darmstadt 98 vs FC Hansa Rostock
In the first leg, Lukas Fröde experienced an emotional debut in the Hansa jersey, headed the late winning goal against Darmstadt (2-1 in the 86th minute) in his first game for Rostock. It was Fröde’s only goal of the season to date. Hansa celebrated their three wins in eight competitive games against D98 on the Baltic Sea, so they have never won at Böllenfalltor (2 draws, one home win Darmstadt).
The last time Rostock was a guest at the Darmstadt was on September 21, 2013, when they conceded their record defeat in the 3rd division with a 0-6 loss. In addition to four-packer Dominik Stroh-Engel, Hanno Behrens was also one of the scorers in that 6-0 win – today’s Rostocker scored 15 times in 108 competitive games for Darmstadt, rose with the Lilies from the 3rd division to the Bundesliga.
Expected line-ups
SV Darmstadt 98: Schuhen – Ronstadt, P. Pfeiffer, Isherwood, Holland – Gjasula – Skarke, Kempe, Honsak – L. Pfeiffer, Seydel
FC Hansa Rostock: Kolke – Rizzuto, T. Becker, Malone, Neidhart – Fröde, Rhein – Duljevic, H. Behrens, Fröling – Verhoek
FC St. Pauli vs Hannover 96
The 1-0 win in the first leg (goal: Sebastian Kerk) was Hannover’s sixth win in the last eight competitive games against St. Pauli. The Kiezkicker have only won one of their last eight competitive games against H96, in January 2021 they managed a 3-2 away win in Hanover, which initiated the turnaround in the previous season and in which the then 17-year-old Igor Matanovic with his only second division goal became the match winner and youngest goalscorer in St. Pauli’s club history in professional football. At home, St. Pauli won only three of 16 second division games against Hannover, away there were 7 wins in 17 games.
The last home win against Hannover was 28 years ago! Since the 2-1 home win in the 2nd Bundesliga in April 1994 (goals: Leonardo Manzi, Martin Driller – Theo Gries), St. Pauli have only drawn three times in eight competitive games at the Millerntor against H96 and lost five times. St. Pauli have only scored four goals in the last eight home games against Hannover and have remained goalless in five of the last seven home games against the 96ers.
Expected line-ups
FC St. Pauli: Schuhen – Ronstadt, P. Pfeiffer, Isherwood, Holland – Gjasula – Skarke, Kempe, Honsak – L. Pfeiffer, Seydel
Hannover 96: Kolke – Rizzuto, T. Becker, Malone, Neidhart – Fröde, Rhein – Duljevic, H. Behrens, Fröling – Verhoek
Expected line-ups courtesy of Kicker
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