Schalke v Holsten Kiel (Bundesliga 2)

Relegated Schalke are looking to bounce back straight away and earn immediate promotion back to the German top-tier from Bundesliga 2. It won’t be easy, it’s definitely unclear if they will accomplish this and at the moment they are failing. They are however not far off the mark. Schalke have won 9 games, drawn 3 but lost 6 so far. This gives them 30 points and has them equal to third-ranked HSV after the completed round 18 tables. 3^rd place grants a promotion/relegation stint against the 16^th place Bundesliga side. 2^nd ranked Darmstadt are 5 points clear and are taking up one of the two automatic promotion spots. Schalke, therefore, aren’t too far off a good season’s finish and they will to beat Holstein Kiel. Kiel are somewhat anonymous, a few decent results would cement a mid-table position, a few poor results could see them anxiously face relegation woes, yet they are seven points clear from direct relegation.

Schalke should win this. They have been a bit inconsistent as of late if we take their away games into account, but if we look at their home record, they have won four of their last five. Their one loss came to fellow promotion candidates Darmstadt. All these four wins came with a difference of three goals over their opponents.

Holstein Kiel’s away record is not good, yet also not bad. They have proven not to be the easiest team to beat, yet they have managed just one win out of eight away games played. They drew four and lost three. Their two most recent away games were 2-1 losses to Nürnberg and Heidenheim. They managed two 1-1 draws just before these games. I do believe Schalke will win this, but it might be a tight affair.

Personnel-wise, Schalke miss a few players but not spectacular amounts. Kaminski is out due to Covid-19 and Pieringer is suspended. Both Dominik Drexler and Danny Latza are doubtful so I don’t expect them in the starting line-up.  Kiel are missing four players due to Covid: namely: Fridjonsson, Holtby, Neumann and Reese. Manager Marcel Rapp can also likely not select Awuku and Van den Bergh so that adds to the issues and the chance of a home win here.

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Heidenheim v Ingolstadt (Bundesliga 2)

I expect a home win for Heidenheim here. Heidenheim are clear and distant bottom of the table, with just 10 points from their 18 games played. They have a league-worst 2 wins and also a league-worst 12 losses. Their 14 goals scored is the lowest in the league and their 37 goals allowed is also the worst in the league. Surprisingly though, they upset Dynamo Dresden in the last match round winning 3-0 and ending a woeful streak of 12 games without winning.

I do see Heidenheim winning though, they are in sixth place and have been doing reasonably well as of late. Four of their last five games ended in a victory and their 3-2 away loss to Karlsruher shouldn’t have damaged their confidence too much. Heidenheim have lost just once at home, to current league leaders St. Pauli. Ingolstadt have lost seven of their nine away games played and scored just two goals in their last five away games

Heidenheim are without just two players, as Gianni Mollo and Kevin Sessa are recovering from injuries. Ingolstadt also don’t have too many issues, but four players are injured. Yassin Ben-Balla is on his way back and could be match fit soon but not yet. Caniggia Elva, Fatih Kaya and Tobias Schröck are injured.

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