Match Preview

Match Preview vs SV Darmstadt 98

One of the biggest games of the season is upon us. 1st vs 2nd, the team head south under the lights on Saturday night as we take on SV Darmstadt.

Unbeaten in the Rückrunde so far, another massive away day is in order come Saturday evening. Under the lights, the topspiel of the 2. Bundesliga is once again featuring HSV with table toppers SV Darmstadt our hosts this time around. The reverse fixture threw up a controversial game that ended in a victory for our opponents. Tim Walter and his side will be looking to gain same revenge on the team that they sit currently four points adrift from. Topspiel, Saturday night under the lights! This could be a big one!

Our Opponents:

Darmstadt have had once again, a very good season so far. With only one defeat to their name all season, they are favourites to be promoted if not win the league. Torsten Lieberknecht have continued over the past season to build and retain their promising campaign of last where they just missed out on the promotion and playoff places. Despite losing top striker Luca Pfeiffer, Philip Tietz has managed to retain his goalscoring form, with help from strong performers such as Manu and Honsak. A team strong at home with a strong fan base backing will be hard to break down and a real test for Tim Walter’s side is expected coming Saturday evening.

HSV Round Up:

HSV will travel to high flying Darmstadt to try and close that gap at the top of the table, knowing this is a difficult but not impossible task. Despite losing to Darmstadt in the reverse fixture, HSV can look back on some good memories in Hessen, most notably last season when Robert Glatzel grabbed himself four goals. After a fantastic day last Sunday with the fans and the 2-1 victory over Bielefeld. Tim Walter showed his excitement for Saturdays topspiel during the Thursday press conference. “"Of course, it's a special game in which there's a lot at stake between two very good teams. You could already see that in the first leg. And now, too, I expect an intense game in such a top match, because football lives on emotion and passion. And that is a good thing.”

Match Facts:

Record within reach

Strong as an ox: HSV have won 7 of their 10 away games so far this season. In addition, 1 draw and 2 defeats are on the books. An away win in Darmstadt would therefore be equivalent to points 23 to 25 on away grounds. No team in the history of the second division has ever had a better record after 11 away games. A win in Hesse, which seems quite possible considering the previous record at the Böllenfalltor (9 games, 6 wins, 3 draws), would therefore have a historic character.

Corners as a successful element

When the ball comes to rest for a Darmstadt corner kick, HSV must be wide awake. Because: The SVD scored the most times in the league as a result of a corner kick (8 times). The Rothosen, can counter with a strong statistic in this area: Only 2 goals were conceded after opponent's standard situations (free kicks and throw-ins included) - a league best. In addition, the Lilien are missing Tobias Kempe (torn inner ligament), their regular corner expert, and Patric Pfeiffer (torn muscle bundle), a reliable receiver, is also absent. Nevertheless, it is better to be safe than sorry!

Star stats on both sides

Not only the teams as a whole, but also the individual players of the two opponents can boast strong numbers in many statistical categories. Examples? Robert Glatzel (14 goals in the season) had the most shots on goal in the league (75), SVD attacker Philip Tietz (8) follows in 4th place (61). Sebastian Schonlau is unrivalled in the number of passes (1,357), while Lilien centre-back Christoph Zimmermann is virtually unchallenged in direct duels (64.5%, 6th in the league). And the standard of quality between the posts is also enormous: Daniel Heuer Fernandes saves 76% of all shots on goal (3rd place league-wide), Darmstadt keeper Marcel Schuhen even 77.3% (2nd place). It remains the same: a top match in the truest sense of the word.

Where to Watch?

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