2. Bundesliga preview: SC Preußen Münster vs. 1. FC Kaiserslautern | OneFootball

SC Preußen Münster

Münster head into Sunday’s clash looking nervously over their shoulders. For the first time this season, they find themselves firmly in the relegation conversation. After spending much of the campaign keeping a healthy distance from the bottom three, Die Adler now sit 15th - just two points clear of the automatic drop zone ahead of the weekend fixtures - following a five-match winless run.

A goalless draw in Düsseldorf last time out summed up their recent struggles. Despite controlling possession for large spells, Münster lacked cutting edge in the final third. The forward pairing of Etienne Amenyido and Imad Rondić were unable to make their dominance count, extending the club’s away winless streak to four matches.

Head coach Alexander Ende has called for calm amid the mounting pressure:

“We are aware of the situation; we're not going into this naively. I don't see anyone here running around desperately or recklessly. This team has impeccable character and is sticking together,”

Home form is also becoming a concern. Münster are winless in their last five at the Preußenstadion and have not beaten Kaiserslautern since 2019 - a psychological hurdle they will be keen to overcome.

Team news: 

Antonio Tikvic, Simon Scherder, Malik Batmaz, Lars Lokotsch, Joshua Mees, Luca Bolay, Oscar Vilhelmsson, Jorrit Hendrix and Marcel Benger will be sidelined. 

Predicted lineup (4-4-2 Diamond): 

Schenk (GK) - ter Horst, Heuer, Jaeckel, Meyerhöfer - Benger - Raschl, Schulz - Sertdemir - Rondić, Batista Meier

1. FC Kaiserslautern

Promotion aspirations were openly discussed before the season began, but Kaiserslautern’s inconsistency under Torsten Lieberknecht has left them on the fringes of the promotion race. Currently 7th on 34 points, they sit seven adrift of the top three and can ill-afford many more slip-ups.

They edged past basement side Fürth 1-0 last weekend in what was far from a convincing display. An early strike from Semih Şahin proved decisive, yet Lautern failed to build on their advantage and allowed their struggling visitors to remain in contention until the final whistle. Game management - particularly killing matches off - remains an area for improvement.

Lieberknecht is confident his side can put that right:

“We want to finally get our three points away from home again. I'm convinced we've prepared very well this week."

That belief will be tested by a poor away record. Kaiserslautern have not won on the road in the league since late October. However, they can draw confidence from the reverse fixture, where they ran out 4-1 winners at the Fritz-Walter-Stadion in September.

Team news: 

Ivan Prtajin, Maxwell Gyamfi and Mergim Berisha are unavailable. Mahir Emreli is back in training and an option for the squad. 

Predicted lineup (3-4-2-1): 

Krahl (GK) - Robinson, Sirch, Rasmussen - Joly, Şahin, Kunze, Haas - Skyttä, Ritter - Bassette