Hertha host ex-captain in front of 70,000 fans, Heidenheim's first game after Schmidt's decision: Five things to look out for on 2. Bundesliga Matchday 11
League leaders Hertha BSC host VfL Wolfsburg in the standout fixture of matchday 11 in 2. Bundesliga, while Nürnberg and Kaiserslautern will hope to close the gap at the top.
70,000 in attendance for 2. Bundesliga game
Without a shadow of a doubt, Hertha's home game against third-placed Wolfsburg is the biggest fixture of matchday 11 in 2. Bundesliga. The capital city club have a perfect home record that helped them to open a seven-point lead at the top of the league, which prompted a huge demand for Saturday's Topspiel clash.
70,000 supporters are expected to attend the fixture between the former Bundesliga regulars at the iconic Olympiastadion. Wolfsburg started the campaign as overwhelming favorites for promotion, but they're winless in their last four games on the road.
In addition to the huge crowd, Fabian Reese will be in the spotlight after the former Hertha captain made a controversial transfer in the summer to join the relegated Bundesliga club. The 28-year-old has already surpassed double digits for direct goal involvements as a Wolfsburg player.
Klose faces his bogey team
The direct duel between the promotion hopefuls could help direct rivals Nürnberg in both closing the gap with Hertha BSC and stretching their lead over Wolfsburg. Miroslav Klose's men will host Darmstadt earlier on Saturday as they hope to end a two-game winless run at home.
Without their injured striker Mohamed Ali Zoma, Der Club returned to winning ways on matchday 10 at St. Pauli. Darmstadt were in the mix for the promotion race last term, but their poor start this season left them in the relegation zone. However, Nürnberg lost both fixtures against Florian Kohfeldt's side last season without scoring a goal.
Special atmosphere expected in Heidenheim
Heidenheim's Voith-Arena isn't quite the Olympiastadion, but the atmosphere on Sunday against Hannover would certainly be different. The longest serving manager in German football, Frank Schmidt, confirmed he'll leave the club at the end of the season after two decades of service.
Schmidt’s first game after the confirmation of his eventual departure will be against Sandro Wagner’s Hannover. The former Germany and FC Bayern striker was under immense pressure before finally getting his first win last week against Dynamo Dresden. Including the Lower Saxony derby against Eintracht Braunschweig a fortnight ago, Hannover lost each of their last three away encounters.
Kaiserslautern need to respond after last week's collapse
Kaiserslautern have only conceded seven goals this season, with six of them coming in 3-0 defeats to Magdeburg and Hertha BSC. Torsten Lieberknecht's side had a great chance to further boost their promotion hopes last week, but they ended up conceding goals for the first time at home.
While they still have the best defense in the division, Kaiserslautern's nine goal tally is only better than Bochum despite sitting in fourth place after ten games. On Saturday, the former Bundesliga champions will face newly-promoted Osnabrück before heading to the second international break.
Bochum and Karlsruhe target to end barren runs
Not only they have the weakest attack, Bochum are the worst home team in 2. Bundesliga as they only picked two points from five games at Vonovia Ruhrstadion. Meanwhile, Karlsruhe are yet to win away from home, with their last trip ended in a 6-1 defeat to Magdeburg. On Sunday, Uwe Rösler's men will play host to travel sick KSC.
