Facts & Figures: The top facts about the HSV game

Under Florian Kohfeldt, the Lilies are performing better at home than they have in a long time: They currently have four consecutive home wins – and SV Darmstadt 98 is unbeaten in four matches. But that’s far from over. The Lilies are looking to build on their winning streak, especially at home. They even have a chance this season to repeat a streak they last achieved in 2021. Back then, SV 98 managed six consecutive home wins. A win against HSV, followed by a final win against Jahn Regensburg – and that streak would be broken.

When Darmstadt 98 and Hamburg SV meet, the home team is often at a disadvantage. While SV 98 are unbeaten in eight matches at the Volksparkstadion (five away wins, three draws), Hamburg seem to feel almost a bit too comfortable in Darmstadt. The Hanseatic club has never lost away from home at the Merck Stadium at Böllenfalltor. The last home win in a meeting between the two teams came 44 years ago in 1981.

The last eleven second-division duels between SVD and HSV have been a busy one: A whopping 38 goals were scored – an average of 3.45 goals per game. But that wasn’t enough: The referees also awarded five penalties and showed a red card four times in these matches. Overall, the two teams met in 21 competitive matches, with HSV scoring a goal in each. But the Lilies also failed to score in only three of the 21 competitive matches.

Darmstadt and Hamburg, the two teams with the strongest counterattacks in the 2nd Bundesliga, will face off. While Darmstadt has already scored seven counterattack goals this season, Hamburg has taken advantage of their opponents‘ offensive play a whopping nine times.

144 won aerial duels. Aleksandar Vukotic wins the most aerial duels in the league. This strength, along with that of his teammates in the defensive unit, will certainly be put to the test on Saturday. The Red Shorts, the former corner-kick champions of the 2. Bundesliga, are coming to the Merck Stadium at Böllenfalltor. The Hanseatic League has scored eight times from corners – a league best. Darmstadt, on the other hand, scored three times following corners.

When it comes to crosses, both teams seem to choose different strategies to achieve success. SV 98 attempts to use fewer, but high-quality crosses. On average, every 26th cross from the South Hesse side results in a goal – the best rate in the 2. Bundesliga. The Hanseatic League, on the other hand, has the third-most crosses in the 2. Bundesliga with 366 – and they’re no less successful: 14 times, the Hamburg team has scored from open-play crosses – another top stat in the 2. Bundesliga.

One Hamburg player should still be a familiar face to most of the Lilies: goalkeeper Daniel Heuer Fernandes returns to the Böllenfalltor on Saturday. Heuer Fernandes played a total of 72 competitive matches for the Lilies from 2016 to 2019, keeping a clean sheet in 17 of those matches.

In the duel against Hamburger SV, two Lilies will face their former youth club: Alexander Brunst and Fabian Nürnberger both have their football roots at HSV.  Reserve keeper Brunst came through the Hanseaten’s youth systems from 2008 to 2014. During this time, he made a total of 55 appearances for the U17 and U19 teams, as well as 25 games for the HSV reserve team.  Fabian Nürnberger also wore the Rothosen jersey in his youth career. In 2015, he moved to the U17 team of FC Eintracht Norderstedt – and from there embarked on his further path to professional football.

Aleksandar Vukotic (9), Matej Maglica (4), Fabian Nürnberger (4), Killian Corredor (4), Fraser Hornby (4), Sergio Lopez (4), Andreas Müller (4), and Kai Klefisch (4) have already been booked. A further yellow card for any of the players would result in a suspension.