Fortuna – Heidenheim

In Dusseldorf, the home team will at least not lose to the third club in the league

This past round has thrown Heidenheim's fans into absolute euphoria. A few seasons ago, the club had already shown ambitions of a historic Bundesliga title, but lost in the play-offs to the third bottom team in the elite division. In the current championship, Frank Schmidt's side have long been "propping up" the leaders in the standings, and now they have come within arm's length of the top spot. Fortuna Dusseldorf recently bid farewell to the German football elite and have been trying unsuccessfully for several seasons to get back into it. Right now, this club's prospects of reaching the top three look ghostly. However, if such an idea is realised, Heidenheim are direct competitors for them. Before the meeting in Düsseldorf, bookmakers identified the home side as the favourites, offering odds of 2.23 on their victory. Fortuna have been mid-table performers almost all season. Since the resumption of the German championship in January, the team took part in six rounds, losing twice and winning four times. Fortuna's special feature is that they did not lose a single point on home soil, beating Magdeburg, Zandhausen and Braunschweig. The club from Düsseldorf is one of the most uncompromising in the league, rarely ending matches with a draw. This is the approach to be taken in the upcoming encounter, as Fortuna will only be satisfied with a win. The team sits in fifth place, eight points behind third-placed Heidenheim. If they do not win on Saturday, they can kiss goodbye to any realistic prospects for a place in the top three. Heidenheim faced the leader in the last round and managed to snatch victory from him through a goal in the 89th minute. They are now three points clear of Darmstadt 98, only two points adrift of the promotion zone. Heidenheim became the second club of the division to defeat Darmstadt 98 this season. They are now on a three-game winning streak, but have not won more than three times in a row this season. At home last September, Heidenheim snatched victory over Fortuna in the 87th minute. The visitors' winning streak will be interrupted in the upcoming meeting.