SV Darmstadt 98's relegation from the Bundesliga could be confirmed on Sunday when they take on Heidenheim at Merck-Stadion am Bollenfalltor in the final match of gameweek 31.
The hosts are at the bottom of the league standings, trailing 10 points behind 16th-placed Bochum, while the visitors are comfortably sat in mid-table with a 12-point cushion above the drop.
Match preview
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Teams often refer to the 'magic' 40-point mark as the threshold for ensuring safety in the top flight, but in the current Bundesliga campaign, a total of 39 points will be sufficient to secure a place in the league for the 2024-25 season.
Unfortunately, it will take an absolute miracle for Darmstadt to avoid returning to the second tier this season, despite keeping their slender hopes of avoiding the drop alive after beating FC Koln 2-0 on the road last week.
Die Lilien broke the deadlock in the 57th minute when Koln failed to clear a corner. Christoph Klarer seized the opportunity, slotting his shot between the legs of goalkeeper Marvin Schwabe before Oscar Vilhelmsson sealed the victory with a goal in stoppage time.
While that result was not enough to lift them off the foot of the table, it did at least bring an end to the side's dismal 22-game winless run, which included 15 losses and seven draws dating back to October 7.
Nevertheless, Torsten Lieberknecht's side remain on the verge of their fourth relegation from the Bundesliga - only if they manage more points this gameweek than either Mainz or Bochum, will they survive another week.
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Meanwhile, Heidenheim, who joined Darmstadt in receiving automatic promotion to the top flight last term, have been one of the surprise packages of the 2023-24 league season and are still in with a chance of securing a top-half finish.
While their four-match unbeaten streak was brought to an end by RB Leipzig last week, FCH have steered clear of the drop zone for the majority of the season, currently on 34 points after 30 matches, seven points clear of the relegation playoffs and five points behind Hoffenheim in ninth place.
However, the excitement among Heidenheim fans extends beyond their position in the table; it also stems from the teams they have managed to secure points against. In the last month, FCH pulled off a remarkable 3-2 home victory against Bayern Munich and were bitterly unlucky to only take a point off Champions League hopefuls Stuttgart a week earlier.
Additionally, Frank Schmidt's team, who initially lost six of their first seven away games this season, have shown significant improvement as the campaign has progressed and have only suffered one defeat in their last eight league matches away from home - a 1-0 loss to Augsburg at the start of March.
Heidenheim won the reverse fixture 3-2 at Voith-Arena back in December thanks to a Patrick Mainka brace and Jan Schoppner's winner, although they have not beaten Darmstadt in their last four visits to Merck-Stadion am Bollenfalltor (W0 D1 L3).
Team News
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Darmstadt's injury list has certainly not helped their cause this season, and they are likely to enter gameweek 31 with as many as 10 players ruled out, including Fraser Hornby and Fabian Holland, who will also sit out the remainder of the season.
Marvin Mehlem, Braydon Manu, Alexander Brunst, Fabian Schnellhardt, Aaron Seydel and Julian Justvan are the remaining confirmed absentees for this match, while Klaus Gjasula and Clemens Riedel are flagged as doubts.
Heidenheim are also missing several players for this match, including suspended Omar Traore and long-term injury absentees Elidon Qenaj (knee) and Thomas Keller (cruciate ligament tear).
Lennard Maloney and Adrian Beck are sidelined until next month with a dislocated shoulder and ankle injury respectively, while Marnon Busch is done for the season with a knee injury.
SV Darmstadt 98 possible starting lineup:
Schuhen; Isherwood, Klarer, Maglica; Bader, Kempe, Franjic, Nurnberger; Vilhelmsson, Pfeiffer, Skarke
Heidenheim possible starting lineup:
Muller; Siersleben, Mainka, Gimber, Fohrenbach; Sessa, Schoppner; Dinkci, Pieringer, Beste; Kleindienst
We say: SV Darmstadt 98 2-2 Heidenheim
Darmstadt kept their Bundesliga survival hopes alive by bringing an end to their 22-match winless streak against Koln last week, but we feel their return to the second tier will be confirmed this Sunday. Heidenheim have proven themselves to be a difficult team to beat in the second half of this season, and we fancy they will come away with something from this one.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Devesh Jaganath
