Having suffered top-flight relegation last season, Greuther Furth will begin life in the 2. Bundesliga with a home clash against Holstein Kiel.
Greuther Furth were relegated from the Bundesliga after finishing the previous campaign rock bottom of the table – ten points behind their nearest rivals.
Erste Heimspielwoche der neuen Saison - die Vorfreude ist spürbar!Heute sind unsere Jungs reingestartet in die Auftaktwoche!#kleeblatt #SGFKSV pic.twitter.com/UuEABQOxWh— SPVGG GREUTHER FÜRTH (@kleeblattfuerth) July 12, 2022
Erste Heimspielwoche der neuen Saison - die Vorfreude ist spürbar!Heute sind unsere Jungs reingestartet in die Auftaktwoche!#kleeblatt #SGFKSV pic.twitter.com/UuEABQOxWh
As for Holstein Kiel, they finished ninth in the 2. Bundesliga standings last term – 15 points shy of the top three.
To say that Greuther Furth endured a torrid 2021-22 Bundesliga campaign would be a colossal understatement.
Indeed, the Cloverleaves only managed to win three of their 34 league games last season – recording nine draws and 22 losses along the way.
Not only did Greuther Furth registered the worst defensive record in the Bundesliga last term (82), but they also recorded the second-worst offensive record (28).
As a result, they ended the campaign with a sorry goal difference of -54. It goes without saying that Greuther Furth must improve at both ends of the field in 2022-23.
Meanwhile, Holstein Kiel registered 12 wins, nine draws and 13 defeats across their 34 league encounters last season.
In truth, it was a relatively average season for the Storks – who are preparing for their sixth consecutive campaign in the second tier of German football.
That said, Holstein Kiel enjoyed a promising end to the previous season – losing just one of their final six encounters. Each of their final three games produced over 2.5 goals, too.
If they can pick up where they left off towards the end of last term, they will give themselves a decent chance of improving on their ninth-place finish.
Head-to-head: Greuther Furth and Holstein Kiel faced each of their eight times in the 2. Bundesliga between 2017 and 2021. Furth picked up three wins, while Holstein Kiel won twice.
Greuther Furth are currently enjoyed a three-game unbeaten streak in this fixture, having claimed two wins and a draw since their last loss against Holstein Kiel.
Team news: Greuther Furth will start the season without five injured players – Robin Kehr, Marco Meyerhofer, Luca Itter, Afimico Pululu and Gideon Jung.
Holstein Kiel have a number of injury absentees, too, with Noah Awuku, Hauke Wahl, Philipp Sander and Fin Bartels expected to miss Saturday’s opener.
Given that Greuther Furth were playing top-flight football only a few months ago, they should have enough quality to claim all three points on Saturday.
For that reason, Forebet predicts that Greuther Furth will score over 1.5 goals on their way to seeing off Holstein Kiel.