The Ultimate Zweite Bundesliga Preview

In mere hours, a brand new season of the Zweite Bundesliga will be upon us. Who will succeed, who will fail, and what other twists and turns the 49th season has in store is all explored today!

Fans of German football will need to wait just a bit longer for the Bundesliga to return, but one can take some solace from the fact that perhaps the most exciting, and down-right wild divisions in all of Europe returns this evening. 

When 1. FC Kaiserslautern hosts Hannover 96 tonight, another chapter in the Zweite Bundesliga epic will be opened, inevitably promoting another unpredictable journey whose twists and turns will leave even the most well-versed journalist scratching their head at what ultimately unfolded at the end of the season.

Nevertheless, we’ve assembled just the crew to take on this impossible task, with head-writer Adam Khan joined by Louis Ostrowski (football kit aficionado and Bundesliga FANatic writer), Matthew Karagich (host of the 2nd Bundesliga Podcast), and Nick Wildhagen (pundit on Talking Fussball) to preview the upcoming campaign in all its entirety. 

From the young player of the season, to the impending flop, and the clubs destined for promotion, all is explored in The German Football Weekly’s Ultimate Bundesliga 2 Preview. 

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The teams who will get promoted are…

Louis

It feels like it's finally time for HSV to go up, simply because there aren't huge clubs with big budgets dropping down or other clubs perfectly poised that they will have to compete with.

Last season was the first time they finished in the top 3, and they have stuck with Tim Walter as coach for another year - a first in HSV’s 2. Liga history. Unlike most playoff losers in the past, they aren't being torn to pieces by richer teams, either.

Bielefeld should be fairly well placed to bounce back. Despite losing a lot of important players there are some talented youngsters and some proven 2. Liga talents in the team that can override question marks in certain positions, as well as the strange appointment of coach Uli Forte.

I nominate Hannover for 3rd place, but it could really be anyone else - Düsseldorf, Hannover, Paderborn or Heidenheim can all make a convincing case.

Matthew

What does Hamburg hope to have in common with the 2010/11 FC Augsburg squad? Gain promotion after losing in the relegation playoffs!

Surely this is the season Hamburg secures promotion…. at the 5th time of asking. With Tim Walter becoming the first coach in what seems like a lifetime to get a second season in Hamburg, now seems the time HSV return to the Bundesliga.

So who joins them? With an eye on stability for me Fortuna Düsseldorf looks like the likelist. After going unbeaten in his first 12 games, Daniel Thioune turned Fortuna from boring and mundane to exciting and promotable. The signing of Jordy de Wijs is a big bonus for Düsseldorf after his outstanding display in the Rückrunde on loan.

And to round it off? Well, Paderborn, Nürnberg, Hannover, and Bielefeld are well placed. But for me it’s Heidenheim who are poised for 3rd.

Adam

I’m almost certain I’ll be looking back at the end of the season rueing my naivety, but surely HSV must secure promotion in their 5th consecutive year out of the topflight. Die Rothosen have the best squad in the division, a manager and playstyle that seamlessly fits the roster, and the confidence from an all around impressive campaign last year.

Below Hamburg there are quite a few teams worth a mention - 1. FC Heidenheim, Hannover 96, Holstein Kiel, SC Paderborn, and Arminia Bielefeld - but I’ve ultimately got my eye on 1.FC Nürnberg and Fortuna Düsseldorf.

Nürnberg were one of the most complete sides in the division under Robert Klauß - with a well-defined system and hard to beat defence - and by adding Christoph Daferner and Manuel Wintzheimer, they now have two forwards who can take their attack to the next level.

Düsseldorf, on the other hand, looks a more left-field shout after finishing the season in 10th, but the work of Daniel Thioune needs to be applauded. The 47-year old took over the side in the relegation zone, and went on to lose only 1 of his 13 matches in charge. That was the best end of season record from any team bar Schalke 04 and Werder Bremen. 

Nick

HSV were on the right track under Walter last season, but fell short at the last hurdle. The team from the Hansa city have somehow always been able to mess up their promotion hopes towards the end of the season, but I think this time around things seem more cool, calm and collected. 

Getting two smaller clubs (Arminia Bielefeld & Greuther Fürth) returning to the Zweite Bundesliga instead of two big, traditional teams (Werder Bremen & Schalke 04) like last year will also help.

I thought last season that Fortuna had a very well balanced squad that should be able to do well. However, the wrong coach was hired, but that was rectified once Daniel Thioune stepped in. Under him I do see a bright future for this team.

As for third place, that seems to be the toughest pick. I think both Nürnberg and Hannover 96 look good on paper, but I think that this Hannover side looks slightly stronger. Having said that, given the many high profile transfers and a new coach arriving, it stands to be seen if all pieces of the puzzle are going to fit. 

The teams who will get relegated are…

Louis

Kaiserslautern may be a big name but as Ingolstadt have shown last season, it's always an uphill battle for newly promoted sides who've scraped through the playoff. Their transfer window has been promising though, so I believe they could stay up, but maybe need the playoff.

Braunschweig, promoted as 3. Liga runners-up, didn't make a huge impression in their last 2. Liga season - and neither did coach Michael Schiele, who was sacked by both Würzburg and Sandhausen that same season. Also, their new kits are bad, so no sympathy from me.

The other team I'm tipping to go down is Jahn Regensburg. They were impressively bad at the end of last year and the squad has only gotten worse, with names like Sarpreet Singh and Max Besuschkow among those who won't be back this year, as well as sporting director Christian Keller who established them in the league. Mersad Selimbegović is still there, but is he really capable of changing this team around? There is very little cause for optimism right now in Regensburg.

Matthew 

This was difficult as there are several teams who could make a case to be in the bottom 3. Let’s start with those automatically going down. Braunschweig gained promotion after finishing 2nd in the 3. Liga last season, but their summer signings and the squad in general don’t inspire the impression of a side likely to survive.

Jahn Regensburg were awful in the Rückrunde with only two wins. Combine that with so many important departures, and a coach who's teetering on the edge of the chop, and you have all the ingredients required for relegation.

The playoff is tricky, you could make a case for Hansa Rostock, Sandhausen and Magdeburg. For me though, I’ve gone with Kaiserslautern. Whilst their recruitment has been solid, do they have a strong enough midfield core to win them games in the long-run?

Adam

Relegation is an incredibly hard prediction this season, with multiple clubs in the mix, but few, if any, nailed on.

There are, however, two I’m relatively keen on putting my reputation on the line for… Eintracht Braunschweig and Jahn Regensburg.

Braunschweig, new arrivals from the Dritte Bundesliga, have been promoted or relegated in 6 of their last 10 seasons and it’s hard to not see a similar fate beset them this year as they enter the campaign with the lowest market value (according to Transfermarkt.de) in the division, and a summer window which hasn’t inspired any change of fortunes.

Regensburg, on the other hand, look destined to lose their Zweite Liga status after 5 consecutive seasons in the division. The Bavarian outfit started last season like a house on fire, but it ultimately fizzled out and Mersad Selimbegović’s side won just 1 of their last 15 matches. Add to the poor form the departures of key men like Alexander Meyer, Max Besuschkow, Sarpreet Singh, and Jan-Niklas Beste, and 17th spot seems like a fair prediction for this side.

The final spot felt like a flip of the coin between numerous clubs who don’t really feel weak enough to go down, so I’ve ultimately landed on SV Sandhausen. They almost always begin the season dreadfully before picking up form after a flurry of January additions, but perhaps this is the year the luck runs out at the Hardtwaldstadion.

Nick

Hansa Rostock - They are going to miss Hanno Behrens, and John Verhoek is probably not going to have another season where he scores 17 goals. All in all I thought they over performed a bit last season and I’m going with second season syndrome here. Sébastien Thill looks like a great signing, but not enough to avoid the battle against relegation.

Eintracht Braunschweig - Yes, Germany’s premiere elevator side. They’ve been going up or down 11 times over the last 2 decades. You just know what that means given their somewhat uneven squad - they are going straight back down.

Jahn Regensburg - They were really the weakest side of the Rückrunde. Having watched them a bit back then, I, and I suppose many others, jotted them down as a candidate to go down a while ago. 

The biggest positive surprise will be…

Louis

I'd like this year's surprise package to be Magdeburg - because we all like Christian Titz, and we all like when teams from the 3. Liga come up and immediately impress - but as Magdeburg will be expected to succeed, I don't think it'd be a surprise unless they're at the very top.

A bit left-field then, but my suggestion is a player, and one who hasn't impressed for a while.

Let go by Hamburg, David Kinsombi has fallen off the radar a bit, having never really reproduced his Holstein Kiel form. Though there's not been much to shout about from him in the last few years, he's now at Sandhausen, where it's not uncommon for random players to suddenly shine.

He'll partner Tom Trybull in midfield, who is a good example. 

After being hopeless at Hannover, Trybull was outstanding in the second half of last season after making the switch to the Hardtwaldstadion. Kinsombi could have a similar resurgence.

Matthew 

When you think of Magdeburg there are several terms that come to mind, inexperienced, returning and Titz. With a squad that has only 6 players with 2. Bundesliga experience, the odds of Magdeburg surviving a single season in the league seem grim.

But there is one factor that should have Magdeburg fans bullish about survival, and that’s Christian Titz.

Titz might not have had the most successful time in the 2. Bundesliga when he was coaching Hamburg, but in his defence his successors haven't fared much better. At Magdeburg, Titz turned a side destined for 4th tier football into one returning to the 2. Bundesliga in less than 18 months. 

Adam

Arminia Bielefeld failing to stave off the drop does not just mean there won’t be any top-tier football to look forward to at the Bielefelder Alm next season, but it also signals a broad rebuild amongst the squad as key personnel and coaching staff departed over the summer.

Star keeper Stefan Ortega has joined Manchester City, and German youth international Amos Pieper will link up with Werder Bremen. Austrian winger Patrick Wimmer has joined VFL Wolfsburg, and former RB Salzburg midfielder Masaya Okugawa is still likely to depart as the window winds down.

With such a revamp in playing personnel, opportunities should arise for others to step up to the plate, one being 18-year old Burak Ince.

The midfielder is heralded as one of the biggest talents in Turkish football, making his first professional start in his country’s second division as a 15-year old. Just last January Bielefeld signed him for a pretty sizable fee of €500th.

The youngster was promised only limited minutes amidst strong competition and a relentless fight against the drop last year, but this season fans are hoping for more from the young starlet.

Nick

The partnership between Stefan Leitl and Håvard Nielsen has worked in the past, and it is probably going to work again now that both have moved from Greuther Fürth to Hannover 96.

Though Nielsen’s name has been one of many in a summer of high profile additions at the Niedersachsenstadion, the Norwegian international could be a defining transfer come the end of the season.

Nielsen is smart, reads the game well and moves accordingly. He understands the way his coach wants his football to be played, and at this level, most defenders are probably going to struggle with his robust nature.

Watch out for him, I think he’ll have a great season.

The biggest disappointment will be…

Louis

I imagine the team most likely to drop off after last year’s performance is St. Pauli.

As so often happens to teams who exceed expectations but miss out on promotion, St. Pauli have been forced to part ways with some key players in the off-season that will inevitably see them struggle next year.

I have enough faith in what remains that I don’t think they’ll do too badly, but even so, I just don’t expect to see them fighting at the top again any time soon.

At the other end of the table is Karlsruher SC, who are now established in the 2. Bundesliga as they enter their 4th consecutive campaign.

Last season ended up being underwhelming for KSC, with a really poor end to the season, and they finished in the bottom half. With Philipp Hofmann finally getting the Bundesliga move he’s been after, they could struggle for goals. New signing Mikkel Kaufmann didn’t get many chances at HSV last year, so it’s difficult to know if he’s really up to the task of replacing such a consistent scorer. It’ll be Christian Eichner’s biggest test as a coach so far.

Matthew 

There are several teams that could feature in this section, but for my selection I’ve gone with St. Pauli. They’ve lost several key players including Guido Burgstaller and Daniel Kofi-Kyereh, replacing them with unproven talent in David Otto and Johannes Eggestein.

The problems next season will most likely lie up front. With an average age of 22.5, St. Pauli possess a striker core that is young, inexperienced, and has yet to prove they can score frequently. Although St. Pauli has retained important players such as Nikola Vasilj and Leart Paqarada, the drop off from upstarts to disappointments seems inevitable. 

Adam

It’s obvious that huge expectations will be put on Hannover 96 after a summer of transfer activity.

As Martin Kind put it, “we are ready to attack the Bundesliga again,” and the 78-year old highly controversial club boss is putting his money where his mouth is by dropping expensive contracts on an elite roster and coaching team.

Fabian Kunze, Louis Schaub, and Håvard Nielsen all join after playing top flight football last season, Max Besuschkow, and Phil Neumann were two standouts in last season’s second tier who will be regularly on view at the HDI-Arena this year, whilst Stefan Leitl - one of the most talented young coaches in the country despite Greuther Fürth’s innocuous Bundesliga exit - has also taken the trip up North.

If all these pieces can come together in a coherent manner they will be in with a shot, but it’s a massive question mark that won’t be answered any time soon.

Given that Hannover 96 only confirmed their survival 3 weeks before the season’s end last year, maybe it’s just a tick too early to give them a realistic chance of fulfilling their Bundesliga aspirations.

Nick

Darmstadt had a great season last time around and they were so close to getting the promotion play off spot. With Luca Pfeiffer and Tim Skarke already gone, the squad is definitely starting to look weaker though.

And, this could be just the beginning, as it wouldn't surprise me if another 2-3 vital players leave the team before the season starts.

None of the replacements brought in have an inspiring ring to their name and I doubt that they are going to make up for the loss in quality that SVD have suffered so far.

The best transfer will be…

Louis

Louis Schaub, now of Hannover, is my pick for the best transfer.

He has of course played in the 2. Liga before - with Köln in 2018/19 - and was one of my favourite players in the league at the time. He helped “The Billy Goats” score a ridiculous number of goals en route to promotion. 

I remember well their 8-1 win over Dresden where he scored one of the goals of the season and got a number of assists. Like Simon Terodde and Jhon Córdoba that year, he was simply too good for the league at times even if he hasn't made a huge impact in the top flight.

Hannover have brought in a number of exciting players and a great coach in Leitl. In theory they should be set for a great campaign, but you never know with them. I believe Schaub will succeed regardless, like Genki Haraguchi did before him on a pretty horrible side.

If we’re taking honourable mentions I’d also like to nominate my man Sebastian Klaas. He has joined Paderborn for free from VFL Osnabrück, but since he has now got a serious cruciate injury he won’t make much of an impact this season.

Matthew 

A team that hopes to be in the promotion conversation this season will be Nürnberg. Under coach Robert Klauß - who will become the second longest tenured coach in Nürnberg history - Der Club needs to make a seismic shift going forward if they are to achieve their aspirations of a topflight return.

Nürnberg’s Achilles heel last season was scoring goals, 49 in total with top scorer Nikola Dovedan managing only 8. That’s problematic when you consider the top scorers for teams in the top 4. To address this, Nürnberg signed Dynamo Dresden’s Christoph Daferner.

Daferner managed 13 goals with Dynamo in what ultimately turned into a relegation bound season, but he showed personally that he is more than capable at the 2. Bundesliga level. The question is, can Nürnberg provide Daferner the service he requires? If so, a contender Nürnberg can be.

Adam

HSV’s signing of Ransford-Yeboah Königsdörffer and 1. FC Heidenheim’s acquisition of Jan-Niklas Beste are both intriguing moves which could potentially alter the promotion race, but I’m looking at a side with more tempered ambitions for my signing of the summer.

With the acquisition of 26-time Luxembourg international Sebastien Thill, Hansa Rostock have made a massive leap towards safety before the season’s even begun.

Not only is the 28-year old attacking midfielder an elegant technician with a wand of a left foot, but the 2 time Moldovan champion even showed it on the biggest stage last season, smashing a net-busting volley past the arms of Thibaut Courtois to secure FC Sheriff Tiraspol a shock away victory against the soon to be European champions.

Whether he can return to the same stage with the Ostseestädter seems like a distant fantasy, but fans of Rostock won’t be complaining too much if Thill can simply bring some of the same attacking magic to the quest for survival next season.

Nick

Jan-Niklas Beste is not really a high profile transfer, but I think he showed us all how good he can be at this level last season. Heidenheim getting him at a fairly low price from Werder Bremen is a shrewd deal.

There have been many of those kinds of deals over the years, and that is why Frank Schmidt’s side have been punching above their weight for some years now. 

The young player of the season will be…

Louis

Shinta Appelkamp didn't have the best season last year, but he remains one of Fortuna Düsseldorf's most talented players. Sporting director Christian Weber and coach Daniel Thioune have talked a lot in the off-season about their plans with the German-Japanese youngster, particularly regarding how they can get him playing a lot better, and how they want to build the team around him.

The recent reports have said that Appelkamp will be given a bit less responsibility off the pitch, so that he can focus purely on playing in the same adventurous way that he did when he burst onto the scene in the 20/21 season.

If Fortuna are to have a better year, which you'd expect now that Thioune is in charge, Appelkamp will probably be a big part of it. 

Matthew 

Ransford-Yeboah Königsdörffer was one of the most sought after young talents in the German game over the summer. With Dresden’s relegation, many Bundesliga & Bundesliga 2 clubs were in the hunt, but it was Hamburg who ultimately won the race at some price.

Königsdörffer impressed in his first 2. Bundesliga season producing 5 goals and 5 assists for a Dynamo Dresden side that couldn’t buy a goal down the stretch. Now on a Hamburg side destined for promotional glory, the soon to be Ghanaian international is likely to build and exceed on his production from last season.

Adam

Despite some pretty key departures, I really like the look of 1. FC Nürnberg and fancy their chances as the outside shout for promotion. Matthew mentioned earlier their wasteful finishing last season which should be addressed with the signing of Daferner, but another player who could internally step up to the mark is Erik Shuranov.

The 20-year old German youth international is regarded as one of the brightest talents in the country, and the Nürnberg academy graduate has already played more than 40 Zweite Bundesliga matches before his 21st birthday.

Shuranov has regularly shown his impressive pace, technique, and off-ball movement in his two seasons of senior football, and his almost 1500 minutes on the pitch last season should provide the necessary experience to add to his relatively modest output of 6 goals in the 2021/22 campaign.

If Shuranov can add this final element to his game, one truly feels the sky’s the limit for the Bamberg born forward.

Nick

The kid from Brandenburg had a decent season at Hannover 96 during his first year at the club, but I think this season is going to be even better for Maximilian Beier. Just looking at his raw skill level in terms of his speed, movement, and ability to see how the game around him develops, you just believe that Hannover have been fortunate enough to secure a player that would also get playing time at many Bundesliga clubs.

A new coach, a lot of new teammates and a new philosophy. As you can see I’m going full out Hannover in my prediction, betting on Nielsen, Beier and Leitl to come through for me. 

The player of the season will be…

Louis

As Hamburg are my pick to top the table, it makes sense to go with a Hamburg player as player of the season.

Daniel Heuer-Fernandes was the best goalkeeper in the league last year, playing better than he ever did before. Tim Walter’s system suits him and has helped him improve, and there’s simply no goalkeeper close to him at the moment.

Matthew 

Khaled Narey had an outstanding first season with Fortuna Düsseldorf scoring 8 goals and producing 15 assists. Only Sonny Kittel had more assists last season. So, with Daniel Thioune leading the charge and Fortuna in the box seat for promotion, it’s not out of the realm of possibility that Narey exceeds these numbers and takes the next step in his career.

Adam

I’ve drunk the metaphorical kool-aid and put my faith in a HSV title, so as such, the obvious decision is to look within the squad for next season’s top performer.

Sonny Kittel is an early shout, but his form dropped off a cliff last season and his future in Northern Germany is far from certain. Mario Vušković and Ludovit Reis are fantastic talents, however neither has a play style which lends itself to personal accolades. Ultimately, I’ve gone with the risk-averse bet of Robert Glatzel.

His 22 goals last season were only bettered by Simon Terodde, and in the DFB-Pokal no player scored more than him (5). Rest assured, that if HSV finally returns to the topflight after a 5-year hiatus, Robert Glatzel will have a key role to play in the Aufstieg-Saison. 

Nick

Well, last season I would have thought not picking Simon Terodde for this category would have been mad. This season that name has been replaced with Robert Glatzel.

The 28-year old is simply an all around great striker who gets into dangerous positions in every match that he plays at this level. Additionally, this HSV side looks just as good as it did going into the last season, which I take as a sign for Glatzel being likely to get great service once again from the players surrounding him.

My very specific prediction will be…

Louis

As usual, Sandhausen have brought in a fair few new faces, some of them seeming quite exciting. They’ll start ok, then drop off dramatically, change their coach, survive comfortably, and then do it all again next year. 

Matthew 

Do you know who currently holds the 34-game record for the most clean sheets in a single season?

If you answered Greuther Fürth’s Max Grün with 18 during the 2011/12 season, you’re correct!

But why so specific?

There have been multiple goalkeepers to beat this record, however, those keepers - which include former Bochum keeper Andreas Wessels - featured in seasons that had 38 games.

Thus, with the best defence in the league, I really like Daniel Heuer Fernandes’ chances of breaking Max Grün’s 34 game clean sheet record

Adam

Here’s one pertaining to just the next few weeks, but I can foresee Fortuna Düsseldorf becoming active again on the market with a massive signing.

The Fortunen have one of the best rosters as it is, but the summer business has been pretty low-key. They’ve only turned Jordy de Wijs’ and Ao Tanaka’s loans into permanent deals, and signed 20-year old Benjamin Böckle on a free from FC Liefering.

I just look at the fact that the window will remain open until the first of September, and with most European leagues in full-flight by the cut-off date, I can imagine a whole host of out of favour stars looking at the project in Düsseldorf with a keen eye for valuable playing time ahead of the World Cup. 

Nick

Well, Torsten Lieberknecht just extended his contract until 2025 and should in theory be fairly safe in his managerial position at SV Darmstadt, but nevertheless this team has been picked apart too much since last season, and given all that I do think that they are going to struggle, with Lieberknecht's own job in jeopardy as the season drags on. 

One word to describe why fans should watch the 2022/23 Bundesliga 2 Season…

Louis

Madness! The 2. Liga is always mad; on the pitch, in the stands, in the league table and behind the scenes at certain clubs. You never know what's going to happen, but it's always exciting.

Matthew

There are a lot of questions heading into this season for several of the potential promotion contenders. Thus, uncertainty is how I would describe the 2022/23 season.

Unlike the Bundesliga, Ligue 1 and Premier League where it’s almost predetermined before the season even begins who will be crowned champions. The 2. Bundesliga is in no uncertain terms impossible to predict, and this is why with the uncertainty heading into the season you should tune in.

Adam

You could say the same for just about any second division in world football, but the unpredictability is a major reason why fans continue to tune into the Zweite Bundesliga year upon year.

Whereas the topflight has been monopolised by the powers of a certain Bavarian overlord (no, not FC Augsburg), the second tier remains a place of turbulent uncertainty where history, pedigree, and even wealth can’t secure success over a gruelling 34-game season.

Nick

Germany’s second biggest city has two fairly big clubs, but only one of them is pretty much right at home in the Zweite. St. Pauli have a big fan base, but all things considered, the stature of the club is more that of a division two side than a Bundesliga team.

However, HSV should be in the Bundesliga. They should be big enough to compete for European honours. 

Having both these teams in one league feels strange, yet, it provides us with one of the best matches that we do have on offer in all of Europe! The Hamburg Derby.