2. Bundesliga Saturday Preview: Hertha look to maintain momentum, Nürnberg chase first win | OneFootball

The bottom three clubs will be in action on Saturday in 2. Bundesliga as bottom-placed 1. FC Nürnberg host fellow strugglers VfL Bochum.

Hertha Berlin vs. SC Paderborn

The capital city club finally registered their first win of the season last week in Hannover. Three second-half goals saw Hertha prevail at the home of the league leaders. Meanwhile, Lucas Copado’s late goal added three points for Paderborn against Bochum.

On Saturday, the two former Bundesliga clubs will go head-to-head once again. The team playing away from home has won the fixture in each of the past three occasions. Paderborn drew in both of their travels this season. Hertha lost 2-0 to Elversberg at the Olympiastadion before the international break.

Team News

Ralf Kettemann could repeat last week’s starting lineup, although Copaldo will push for a place after his supersub performance. After starting the season with three center-back formations, Stefan Leitl used 4-2-3-1 for the first time this season in a 3-0 win over Hannover.

Predicted Lineups

Hertha: Ernst; Eitschberger, Leistner, Dardai, Zeefuik; Eichhorn, Jensen; Winkler, Cuisance, Reese ©; Kownacki

Paderborn: Seimen; Hansen, Götze ©Sven Köhler, Brackelmann; Curda, Castaneda, Baur, Obermair; Bilbija, Tigges, Bätzner

Magdeburg vs. Schalke

Schalke suffered their first home defeat of the season when they succumbed to Alexander Bernhardsson’s early strike against Holstein Kiel in front of 62,271 fans. Their next fixture will bring back bad memories from last season. Schalke lost 5-2 to Christian Titz’s Magdeburg at the Veltins-Arena.

Markus Fiedler replaced Titz after the former HSV coach took over at Hannover. The results haven’t been the same at Magdeburg with last season’s fifth-placed team already losing four games out of five. However, they’ve scored 13 goals in four head-to-head games against Schalke.

Team News

Miron Muslic is not expected to ditch his 3-4-2-1 setup after the second defeat of the season. Schalke’s coach backs out-of-form striker Moussa Sylla, while Hasan Kuruçay could start at the heart of defense. Alexander Ahl-Holmström could replace Maximilian Breunig in Magdeburg’s attack.

Predicted Lineups

Magdeburg: Reimann ©; Hugonet, Mathisen, Hoti; Dzogovic, Stalmach, Hyryläinen, Nollenberger; Ghrieb, Ahl-Holmström, Atik

Schalke: Karius; T. Becker, Katic, Kurucay; Porath, Schallenberg, El-Faouzi, V. Becker; Karaman ©, Gomis; Sylla

Eintracht Braunschweig vs. Elversberg

High-flying Elversberg will travel to Braunschweig in hopes of extending their unbeaten run to four games. Meanwhile, Braunschweig are winless in their last three games after starting the season with back-to-back wins.

Elversberg won both fixtures last season with a 3-0 scoreline. Vincent Wagner managed to keep the momentum created by Horst Steffen as the modest club seemed to compete for a Bundesliga promotion once again.

Team News

Younes Ebnoutalib now consolidates his place in Elversberg’s attack after scoring a brace in consecutive games. As for the hosts, the captain Sven Köhler is unavailable after his late red card in a 2-1 defeat to Darmstadt.

Predicted Lineups

Braunschweig: Hoffmann;  Ehlers, Flick, Breunig; Aydin, Marie, Di Michele Sanchez; Heußer, Gomez ©; Yardimci, Conteh

Elversberg: Kristof; Keidel, Pinckert ©, Rohr, Günther; Condé, Poreba; Petkov, Conté, Zimmerschied; Ebnoutalib

Nürnberg vs. Bochum

This week’s Topspiel will be a clash between teams currently in the relegation battle. When Bochum got relegated from the Bundesliga after dramatic escapes multiple times, the aim was to get back to the division at the first time of asking. Similarly, Nürnberg were one of the promotion candidates with Miroslav Klose at the helm.

However, both teams are still struggling after five rounds. Nürnberg only managed one point so far, while Bochum also lost four games. Bochum are unbeaten in their last five games against Der Club.

Team News

There is no injury concern at Nürnberg right now. Bochum will be without the influential midfielder Ibrahima Sissoko.

Predicted Lineups

Nürnberg: Reichert; Koudossou, Drexler, Gruber ©, Yilmaz; Markhiev, Lubach; Justvan, Becker; Grimaldi, Zoma

Bochum: Horn; Masovic, Vogt, Strompf; Morgalla, Lenz, Wittek; Bero ©, Onyeka, Holtmann; Hofmann