We're onto matchday two in the 2. Bundesliga this weekend as Holstein Kiel opens the doors of the Holstein-Stadion to Greuther Fürth with the away side aiming to jump back into the Bundesliga after a dreadful 2022/23.
Furth were relegated from the Bundesliga two years ago and are aiming to get back into the top flight after an impressive matchday one.
Wir starten rein in die Vorbereitung auf den Saisonauftakt! ☘️⚽️#Kleeblatt pic.twitter.com/OCCnZWFH2i— SPVGG GREUTHER FÜRTH (@kleeblattfuerth) July 27, 2023
Wir starten rein in die Vorbereitung auf den Saisonauftakt! ☘️⚽️#Kleeblatt pic.twitter.com/OCCnZWFH2i
They did, however, struggle tremendously in their first season back in the second tier. The club recorded just 10 wins all season long and scored only 47 times from 34 games.
Combine this with the 11 draws and 13 losses throughout the season, and it meant that Furth finished down in 12th and adrift of the top three by an alarming 25 points in the end.
In fact, Furth only finished above the bottom three by seven points.
However, they have rapidly moved on from that terrible season with an impressive opening day victory against Paderborn.
Branimir Hrgota scored two first half goals in the 5-0 win, as Tim Lemperle, Armindo Sieb and Damian Michalski all got in on the act.
Furth had a total of 23 shots that day and 11 on target.
Furth also had an incredibly high-scoring preseason, as the club would defeat Ansbach 5-2 alongside a 1-1 draw with Eintracht Frankfurt.
The club then went on to draw 4-4 with both Gornik Zabrze and Liverpool.
As for Kiel, they finished four spots above Furth in eighth last season and went on to register 12 wins and the same amount of defeats.
What's more, only Heidenheim, Hamburger, Paderborn and Dusseldorf scored more goals than them in 2022/23 in 2. Bundesliga.
Marcel Rapp's side managed to also let in 61 goals, however, which was the most for those sitting outside of the bottom three.
Like Furth, Kiel was also victorious on the opening day in the league after a victory over Eintracht Braunschweig.
The game's only goal came against Holmbert Fridjonsson in the final few seconds of the match.
Kiel had a frantic preseason after losing to Esbjerg 4-0 just two weeks ago.
The club would, however, smash Rantzau 9-0 and also go on to beat Weiche Flensburg 1-0 and Slovacko 1-0. Kiel also suffered a loss at the hands of AGF.
Forebet predicts a win for Furth after a sensational opening win against Paderborn. Forebet also predicts the game to see over 2.5 goals after that 5-0 victory.