As of: November 6th, 2025 11:52 a.m
Holstein Kiel and Fortuna Düsseldorf started the season in the 2nd Bundesliga with great ambitions. Both are currently stuck in the bottom third of the table. For both of them, the following applies on Sunday in Kiel: it’s forbidden to lose!
For Peter Locht, things are obvious: “If you lose against Düsseldorf, then your back is against the wall,” the KSV fan told NDR on the sidelines of the Kiel training session with a view to the ranking before the important duel against table neighbors Fortuna on Sunday (1:30 p.m., in the NDR Livecenter): “You have two points ahead of the relegation place,” he summarized the starting position of his favorite club before the game and added – just to be on the safe side – to: “Not in third place, but in 16th place.”
With only twelve points in the fall of 2025, Holstein actually has significantly more problems in the 2nd league than those responsible had certainly hoped for, despite the major upheaval in the squad. Coach Marcel Rapp’s team has been waiting for a win for five matches and has already suffered five defeats in eleven games – most recently a bitter 1:2 in Münster despite leading at half-time.
“With the squad that the coach has at his disposal, you actually expected more.”
KSV fan Peter Hackelberg-Peters
Peter Hackelberg-Peters, another supporter of the “Storks”, says: “We actually expected more from the squad that the coach has at his disposal.” Of course, it could happen that Phil Harres and captain Steven Skrzybski get stuck in a low form and goal drought. However, relying only on Alexander Bernhardsson and Adrian Kapralik on offense is “not enough in terms of the game system”. KSV has only scored twelve goals in the league so far.
This is also a reason why, after almost a third of the season, the view is almost only downwards and hardly upwards. For the Bundesliga relegated team, the main premise before the duel with the Rhinelanders is that a week after Halloween, the “specter of relegation” does not become even more intense with another game without a win.
KSV against Fortuna: Duel of the offensively weak
The encounter on Sunday is also a meeting of the disappointed – and the disappointed. The game between two clubs that started the season with ambitions for the top, but are having massive problems getting into a rhythm. The Düsseldorf team has even made a coaching change, with Markus beginning coming in for Daniel Thioune. However, there is no sign of a turnaround, let alone a departure: there have been two defeats and one draw in the league under the ex-Holstein coach so far, plus the cup exit against Bundesliga club Freiburg.
As in Kiel, Fortuna, which with eleven points has one point less than the “Storks”, is particularly worried about the attack department: the team has scored ten goals so far, two fewer goals than the KSV. The difference: They conceded 19 goals, but only twelve for the Rapp team.
Rapp: “Too few points for the effort”
The Kiel coach believes in the turnaround on Sunday: “We have the chance to do better against Düsseldorf. It will be a close game.” The 46-year-old, who has been at the Fjord since 2021, is perhaps experiencing the most challenging time as head coach at Schleswig-Holstein.
The Bundesliga promotion coach in 2024 can’t ignore the fact that the return to the 2nd league is going so bumpy: “Now is a phase that is a little more difficult because we simply don’t get enough points for the effort we put in.”
No Holstein player with more than two goals
What he means: The efficiency in front of the opponent’s goal is often not right. In addition, there are still too many mistakes in the transition from defense to offense. Possible clearer opportunities sometimes do not come about at all.
The result: No Kiel player has scored more than two goals in the league so far. Defender David Zec is also one of the top scorers – alongside Harres and Kapralik. For the 23-year-old Kapralik, most recently placed in the attacking midfield alongside Bernhardsson in Rapp’s 3-4-2-1, it is clear that the players on the pitch have to take care of it: “We have to work, work harder, put more intensity into the game.”
Otherwise, fan Peter Locht’s analysis could be correct and the situation on the fjord could become even more threatening. The Holstein autumn would then be even more uncomfortable.
Possible lineups
Holstein Kiel: Krumrey – Zec, Johansson, Komenda – Rosenboom, Davidsen, Knudsen, Tolkin – Bernhardsson, Kapralik – Müller
Fortuna Düsseldorf: Kastenmeier – Heyer, Oberdorf, Daland, Schmidt – Breithaupt, El Azzouzi – Rasmussen, Muslija, Iyoha – Celar