SV Darmstadt 98 v Holstein Kiel: 2. Bundesliga opener preview | OneFootball

SV Darmstadt 98 open their 2. Bundesliga campaign at home to Holstein Kiel on Saturday afternoon.

According to BuLi News, Tim Walter kept Kiel up after replacing Marcel Rapp in February 2026. The former HSV coach now begins his first full season against Florian Kohfeldt’s side. The hosts are among the favourites for promotion, behind Wolfsburg and Hannover.

Darmstadt began last season with a 4-1 win over Bochum, powered by an Isac Lidberg hat-trick. Kiel’s first match back at this level ended in a 2-1 defeat to Paderborn after Filip Bilbija’s 99th-minute strike.

Darmstadt took four points off Kiel last term, including a 2-0 home victory at Bollenfalltor in March sealed by second-half goals from Lidberg and Niklas Schmidt. Lidberg has since joined Borussia Mönchengladbach.

Luca Marseiler, Fabian Nurnberger and Merveille Papela are out for Darmstadt through injury. Kiel are without former captain Steven Skrzybski and defender Lasse Rosenboom.

Predicted line-ups: Darmstadt, Schuhen (c), Lannert, Pfeiffer, Vukotic, Kleinhansl, Klefisch, Akiyama, Weißhaupt, El Kadiri, Duijvestijn, Lakenmacher. Kiel, Weiner, Sekine, Nekic, Zec, Tolkin, Meffert (c), Kapralik, Balzi, Davidsen, Bernhardsson, Harres.

Source: BuLi News

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