2. Bundesliga Saturday Konferenz: Preview, team news and predicted lineups | OneFootball

SC Paderborn vs. Hannover 96

Paderborn head into match day 13 in electric form, sitting top of the table on 29 points and unbeaten in nine. They’ve won their last eight in a row, a run that underlines just how well Ralf Kettemann has his side playing.

Before the break they claimed another vital victory, edging Magdeburg 1-0 away. Sebastian Klaas put Paderborn ahead inside ten minutes, and from there the visitors managed the match expertly, withstanding Magdeburg’s spells of pressure to escape with a slender but deserved win. They remain two points clear at the top.

Hannover, after a strong start themselves, have slipped into an inconsistent spell and have won just one of their last five. Even so, Christian Titz’s side sit fifth, only two points off third place.

Their most recent outing saw them lose a wild 3-2 battle at home to fellow promotion contenders Darmstadt. In a match they might have seen out earlier in the season, Hannover were instead undone by a 94th-minute winner from Hiroki Akiyama, a moment that captured their recent wobble.

The sides last met in February, drawing 1-1 in Hannover. Paderborn have the upper hand across the last five meetings with three wins. Notably, Christian Titz has never beaten Paderborn in six attempts.

Team news: 

SC Paderborn: Calvin Brackelmann and Marcel Hoffmeier are the only absentees.

Hannover 96: Maurice Neubauer, Benedikt Pichler and Jonas Sterner are expected to miss out. 

Predicted lineups: 

SC Paderborn (3-4-2-1): Seimen (GK) - Hansen, Götze, Scheller - Curda, Castaneda, Baur, Obermair - Bilbija, Klaas - Tigges 

Hannover 96 (3-3-2-2): Noll (GK) - Ghiță, Tomiak, Nawrocki - Matsuda, Leopold, Oudenne - Aséko Nkili, Bundu - Chakroun, Källman 

Preußen Münster vs. Schalke 04

Münster can be reasonably satisfied with their season so far. After being widely tipped for a relegation fight, they sit 12th on 14 points and hold a seven-point buffer above the automatic drop zone. Despite mixed results, Alexander Ende’s team have produced several strong performances and often left matches feeling unlucky not to take more.

Just before the break they fell to a painful 1-0 defeat in Fürth. Münster controlled large spells and the statistics reflected their overall superiority, but were punished deep into stoppage time by a Jannik Dehm strike that sent them home empty-handed from a match they would have earmarked as a must win. 

Schalke, meanwhile, are enjoying an excellent campaign. Few expected them to feature prominently in the promotion race, but Miron Muslic’s side have forced their way into contention and currently sit second, two points off Paderborn.

They responded to back-to-back defeats with a composed 1-0 win at home against Elversberg last time out. Hasan Kuruçay put them ahead early and Schalke never really looked troubled, restricting the visitors to no shots on target in a disciplined defensive showing.

Schalke won both meetings last season (1–0 and 2–1), albeit with different coaches in charge. With this coaching matchup new, there’s an added layer of intrigue. Meetings between these sides are rare, and Münster haven’t beaten Schalke since 1990.

Team news: 

Preußen Münster: Simon Scherder, Malik Batmaz, Antonio Tikvic and Marvin Schulz remain unavailable. 

Schalke 04: Vitalie Becker misses out through suspension. Timo Becker, Tomas Kalas, Christian Gomis, Emil Højlund, Bryan Lasme and Amin Younes are all out injured. 

Predicted lineups: 

Preußen Münster (4-4-2 Diamond): Schenk (GK) - ter Horst, Heuer, Jaeckel, Bolay - Preißinger - Hendrix, Bouchama - Sertdemir - Lokotsch, Batista Meier 

Schalke 04 (3-4-2-1): Karius (GK) - Ayhan, Katić, Kuruçay - Gantenbein, Grüger, Schallenberg, Porath - El-Faouzi, Karaman - Sylla 

Fortuna Düsseldorf vs. FC Magdeburg

Düsseldorf’s campaign has been a huge disappointment so far. A club that aimed to build on last season’s sixth-place finish instead find themselves languishing in 15th. Daniel Thioune has already been relieved of his duties and Markus Anfang, his replacement, has yet to spark a turnaround, going winless in his first four league matches.

Before the break they slipped to a 1-0 defeat in Kiel. Despite leading the statistics in possession, shots on target and touches in the box, Fortuna rarely created clear chances and failed to score away from home for the second match running.

Magdeburg are faring even worse. After a disastrous start cost Markus Fiedler his job, they briefly rallied under Petrik Sander but have since lost momentum again and remain bottom of the table on seven points.

Their most recent match brought a 1-0 home defeat to league leaders Paderborn. Magdeburg were lively in the first half but wasteful, and the second half produced almost nothing going forward. With only nine league goals all season, they remain the division’s lowest-scoring side and show few signs of solving that problem.

Magdeburg won both meetings last season, though they were a very different team under Christian Titz at the time. Düsseldorf edge the last five overall with three wins, while Petrik Sander is unbeaten in three career meetings with Fortuna.

Team news: 

Fortuna Düsseldorf: Matthias Zimmermann, Valgeir Fridriksson, Tim Rossmann, Sotiris Alexandropolous, Florian Schock and Julian Hettwer are injured. 

FC Magdeburg: Samuel Loric, Jean Hugonet and Daniel Heber are sidelined. Lubambo Musonda is also suspended. 

Predicted lineups: 

Fortuna Düsseldorf (4-2-3-1): Kastenmeier (GK) - Heyer, Oberdorf, Daland, Schmidt - Breithaupt, El Azzouzi - Rasmussen, Muslija, Iyoha - Itten 

FC Magdeburg (3-4-3): Reimann (GK) - Hoti, Mathisen, Geschwill - Hercher, Michel, Ulrich, Nollenberger - Ghrieb, Breunig, Atik