SV Darmstadt 98
- Florian Kohfeldt has brought pragmatism, verticality and stability to SV Darmstadt 98’s game since taking over in September 2024 and he could suffocate Fortuna Dusseldorf on Saturday.
- The Lily Whites are second in 2. Bundesliga, with 42 points from 22 games, and clearly one of the promotion candidates to the Bundesliga for the 2025-2026 campaign.
- Darmstadt are undefeated in their last five league games, winning two and drawing three.
- They thumped Kaiserslautern 4-0 at home in their most recent fixture and drew 2-2 at Eintracht Braunschweig in their most recent away game.
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Recent home stats:
- 8 wins and 3 draws from 11 home matches.
- 24 goals scored in 11 home league games this season.
Fortuna Düsseldorf
- Fortuna Dusseldorf, who sit 12th in the table with 25 points from 22 matches, have had an up-and-down campaign in 2025-26 and their two away fixtures this year have resulted in a draw and a defeat.
- Coach Markus Anfang has attempted to bring an intensity and tempo to the matchups as well as some more sharpness in the transitions from defence to attack since he took over in October.
- But the experiments and the team changes, coupled with some fitness issues, have led to some inconsistency in the performance and results.
- Fortuna’s form was two wins, two draws and a defeat from their last five.
Head-to-Head
This game has extra importance because Darmstadt’s 3-0 victory in the 2. Bundesliga away at Fortuna Düsseldorf four months ago broke a decades-long drought.
Key Players
- Cedric Itten, Fortuna’s nine-goal top scorer from 20 appearances, could be their main man again on Saturday.
- Fraser Hornby has scored four in the last five.
- Sergio Lopez is a real creative force for Darmstadt and has four assists to his name during the same period.
- Isac Lidberg leads the line with 12 from 19 in the league this season and will always be a threat.
Betting Insights
- The hosts are the favorites at 2.1, while Fortuna are outsiders at 3.35.
- Bookmakers offer 1.77 for Over 2.5 goals, which looks fair given Darmstadt’s home scoring.
- Fortuna have shipped 15 goals in 10 away games this term.
Prediction
With the hosts much better and in much better form, we’re taking another win for Darmstadt here.
