Figures & facts: The top facts about the Magdeburg game

The Lilies probably like to go there… SV Darmstadt 98 has won all of its four away games so far against 1. FC Magdeburg. The South Hesse team won twice in the DFB Cup and twice in the 2nd Bundesliga. The Darmstadt team also seems to have a favourite result on the Elbe: SV 98 narrowly won 1-0 three times, and once 3-2 after extra time. In any case, the Lilies‘ record against FCM is impressive: Magdeburg only won against SV 98 for the first time in the first leg. The two teams had previously met six times. The Lilies always left the pitch as winners.

Many goals and 1. FC Magdeburg simply belong together this season. With 48 goals, FCM is one of the most dangerous teams in the 2nd Bundesliga. Only Hamburger SV scored more goals this season (51). If you just look at the second half of the season, things are even more impressive offensively. When it comes to scoring goals, the hosts are in first place. In total, Magdeburg hit the opponent’s goal 16 times after the turn of the year, more often than any other team in the 2nd Bundesliga. However, with twelve goals conceded in the second half of the season, they also conceded the most against them.

To score goals, the ball must reach the opponent’s box. Something that both teams have internalised. In the 2nd Bundesliga, hardly anyone can beat the Lilies and 1. FC Magdeburg when it comes to shots on goal. While SV Darmstadt 98 fired a total of 340 times at the opponent’s goal, FCM is just behind with 333 shots. Only 1. FC Köln shot at their opponents‘ goal more often (378). The Magdeburgers also create the most big chances in the league (50). Their xGoals value (45.09) is therefore just below that of HSV (47.73). Darmstadt is in tenth place in these statistics (35.88).

Isac Lidberg has been waiting to finally play for SV 98 again since November due to injury. He did exactly that in the last league game against FC Schalke 04 – and not just once. After five minutes, the Swede had already sunk the ball into Justin Heekeren’s box twice. This brings the 26-year-old to eleven goals this season. Lidberg scored nine of these eleven goals when Fraser Hornby was his strike partner. When both played together in attack from the start, the Lilies have only lost one game so far, with six wins and five draws. The only defeat came in the first leg at home against Magdeburg.

Alexander Brunst wore the 1. FC Magdeburg jersey for two years. Together with FCM, the 29-year-old won the championship in the 3rd league in the 2017/18 season and the associated promotion to the 2nd Bundesliga. In total, Darmstadt’s number two played 37 competitive games for Magdeburg.

Andreas Müller also once played for the FCM. Just like Brunst, he also managed to get promoted to League Two, but a few years later – in 2022. At the Lilien, he is currently an integral part of the central midfield, similar to his time in Magdeburg. The 24-year-old played there 95 times in the cup and league before he came to southern Hesse from Saxony-Anhalt.

Due to a suspension, Baris Atik will not be seen again on the pitch. The offensive player came to SV Darmstadt 98 on loan from TSG Hoffenheim in the winter of 2018, but only stayed for six months and made five appearances for SV 98.

Patric Pfeiffer, on the other hand, was a Lilie for significantly longer. However, there is a question mark about his appearance in the next game due to an injury. In a total of four years at SV 98, the central defender made 85 competitive appearances and scored six goals. After promotion in 2023, he left the Lilies for Augsburg and later moved to the Young Boys in Bern on loan. Now in the winter he has been loaned out again by the FCA and moved to the second division club Magdeburg, where he has already played once.

Fabian Nürnberger will miss the Lilies against Magdeburg due to a red card. Clemens Riedel will also miss the game due to a yellow card suspension. Aleksandar Vukotic (9), Philipp Förster (4) and Fraser Hornby (4) have previous cautions.