Holstein Kiel – Darmstadt

Bundesliga 2 leader won’t allow a misfire against a mid-table side

In the middle of the past decade, Darmstadt 98 made some pretty landmark developments for German football. During the 2013/2014 and 2014/2015 seasons, under Dirk Schuster, the team "jumped" from the Third Division to the Bundesliga. The modest (by historical standards) club did not last long in Germany's elite division then, leaving for the Second Bundesliga at the end of the second season from hopeless last place. Darmstadt 98's current move into the Bundesliga looks more gradual and measured. The club finished the past three seasons in 4th-7th place, and five rounds before the end of the current one they are leading by four points ahead of their nearest rival. Holstein Kiel have also established themselves as an ambitious club in their six years in the Second Bundesliga, twice making the play-offs for promotion. This season, Rapp's side have missed out on the battle for places in the top three and are finishing the season as mid-table sides. The bookmakers expect the visitors to be the favourites, with odds of 2.12 to win. Holstein Kiel have become relatively trivial for opponents in recent years. At the end of 29 rounds, the team has won only ten times. Often, when the opponents were clubs from the bottom half of the standings. This year, only four of the twelve fixtures ended in their favour. Against comparable opponents Heidenheim and Hamburg, Holstein picked up only one point in March and April, losing to the former and drawing with Tim Walter. It is unlikely that even the home crowd's attitude towards the leader can bring the home side a winning result on Sunday. Darmstadt 98 have not lost in the Second Bundesliga for more than half a year, but they have been sliding in the last two months. Fortunately, the main rivals also began to misfire, allowing the Lilies to remain in first place to this day. After the mini-crisis in the first half of March, the Ninetyeighths came to their senses and in the last six rounds they scored 15 of a possible 18 points. Darmstadt 98 also managed to edge out their nearest rivals over the same period: Paderborn, Karlsruhe and Kaiserslautern. The visitors will be closer to victory.