2. Bundesliga preview: Energie Cottbus vs. Hannover 96
| Photo by Inaki Esnaola/Getty Images |
Sunday’s fixture has all the makings of a 2. Bundesliga classic as newly promoted Cottbus take on promotion hopefuls Hannover, with both sides desperate to make a positive start to their respective campaigns.
Energie Cottbus will begin the season preparing for 2. Bundesliga football for the first time since their relegation in 2014, having subsequently spent five years playing in the Regionalliga. Now, the club will feel they are back where they belong after securing promotion on the final day of last season to finish second in the 3. Liga.
Cottbus and head coach Claus-Dieter Wollitz have not rested on their laurels in the transfer market, bringing in 10 new additions to help the club adjust to life back in the Zweite Liga. Key arrivals such as former Borussia Dortmund and Werder Bremen midfielder Leonardo Bittencourt, goalkeeper Marcel Lotka and forward Lucas Copado will hope to provide the experience required, alongside key figures Tolga Cigerci and Erik Engelhardt, who scored 39 league goals between them last season.
Pre-season has not been entirely straightforward for Cottbus, who have lost four of their seven friendlies. However, Wollitz’s side have gained valuable experience against stronger opposition, taking on the likes of Werder Bremen, RB Salzburg, Dynamo Dresden and Mladá Boleslav.
Hannover, meanwhile, head into the 2026/27 campaign after another frustrating season without promotion. They entered the final day of last term occupying a promotion playoff spot with their destiny in their own hands, only for a draw against Nürnberg to allow Paderborn to leapfrog them. Paderborn subsequently secured promotion by defeating Wolfsburg.
Despite losing 11 players this summer through a mixture of transfers, free-agent departures and loan expiries, Hannover have had a relatively quiet transfer window. Jean Hugonet and Pascal Loretz represent their only senior additions, while promising striker Taycan Etçibasi has joined from Borussia Dortmund after scoring 19 goals for their youth sides in 2025/26.
Head coach Christian Titz wants his side to set the benchmark for the season on Sunday:
“We need to perform consistently as a team. We want to use these early games to our advantage, to find our rhythm. The key is to get off to a good start. Having the fans behind us will be crucial, especially in Cottbus.”
The two sides met in last season’s DFB-Pokal, with Cottbus pulling off a surprise victory as Tolga Cigerci scored the only goal in a 1-0 win over Hannover. Hannover’s last away victory against Cottbus came all the way back in 2006.
Cottbus ended last season in impressive home form, going unbeaten in their final 13 home fixtures as they secured promotion. Hannover, meanwhile, are currently on a seven-match unbeaten run away from home.
Team news
Energie Cottbus: There are no reported injuries for Wollitz’s side.
Hannover 96: Husseyn Chakroun, who is recovering from a shoulder injury, and Virgil Ghita, who is recovering from a muscle-tendon injury in his left hamstring, will not travel with the team.
Predicted lineups
Energie Cottbus (4-2-3-1): Lotka (GK); Rorig, Manu, Erlein, Zaydan; Bittencourt, Michelbrink; Cigerci, Boziaris, Copado; Engelhardt
Hannover 96 (3-4-3): Loretz (GK); Hugonet, Tomiak, Allgeier; Neubauer, Thórdarson, Gindorf, Oudenne; Bundu, Källman, Taibi
