Match Preview vs SV Darmstadt 98

Our Opponents: 

Torsten Lieberknecht and his side were ever so close to promotion out of the 2. Liga last season, as were a few sides in a tightly contested top six. Powered by his two powerhouse strikers, although this season he’s down to just one. Luca Pfeiffer has made the jump to the top flight after his move to VfB Stuttgart but this hasn’t stopped Philip Tietz getting his name onto that scoresheet with two in the opening four fixtures. Other losses to the side include Tim Skarke but on the pitch Isherwood’s early season injury set the defence on the backfoot, leading Lieberkneckt to bring in the reinforcement of Christoph Zimmermann from Norwich City. 

Match Facts

Heuer Fernandes aiming for Uli Stein  

HSV have only conceded one goal in four league games - the last time the Rothosen did that after four matchdays was 36 years ago in the Bundesliga, when Uli Stein was in the HSV box. Now ex-Darmstadt (2016-19) Daniel Heuer Fernandes is the rock of the team, fending off an outstanding 94 per cent of opponents' shots on goal (16 of 17) so far.  

Kittel hits100

Creative player Sonny Kittel is about to play his 100th second league game with the diamond on his chest. Only Bakery Jatta can boast more matches in the lower division for the Rothosen- 117. In his 99 second division matches for HSV so far, Kittel has scored a staggering 62 points, with 33 assists and 29 goals. This also makes the 29-year-old Hamburg's record goal scorer in the 2nd Bundesliga.    

Darmstadt expert Glatzel 

Since a 6:1 win in 1981, the home team has never won the following 14 competitive matches between the two clubs. This was also the case in the last encounter in February, when HSV recorded its highest second-league win at the Lilien. The final score was 5-0, with Robert Glatzel scoring four times, three of them in the first 13 minutes. In total, the HSV centre-forward scored six goals in six games against the Lilies - a personal best. After all, he scored more than three times against no other 2.Liga team.