2. Bundesliga Preview: Karlsruher SC vs. 1. FC Nürnberg

Nürnberg will hope to bolster their promotion hopes with three points from Karlsruhe just before the extended international break. The visitors have only dropped points once this season – the 2-2 draw against Holstein Kiel in their last trip.

On the contrary, Karlsruhe are winless after starting their campaign with a home victory against Arminia Bielefeld. To make matters worse, Maximilian Senft’s men lost back-to-back home games with a three-goal deficit.

After squandering a two-goal lead against promotion hopefuls Wolfsburg, Karlsruhe were stunned by the newcomers Energie Cottbus last week. They fought back to return home with a point from Hannover in the middle of those two fixtures.

Miroslav Klose’s men quickly returned to winning ways in the 2-1 victory against Hannover. Highly-rated attacker Mohamed Ali Zoma scored the winner with his first goal after a collapsed move to West Ham United. Der Club scored three goals per game, with only Hertha BSC having a better start than them after five matchdays.

Zoma scored a hat-trick when these two teams last met in February as Julian Justvan also got a brace in a resounding 5-1 victory. However, Karlsruhe were victorious in each of their last five home games against the club from Bavaria.

Team News

Mikayil Faye returns to training, but his Nürnberg debut is expected after the international break. Meanwhile, Karlsruhe’s new center-back Hilton could make his first appearance in German football.

Predicted Lineups

Karlsruhe: Bernat; Pinto Pedrosa, Kobald, Franke, Ofli; Civeja, Zor; Ben Farhat, Wanitzek, Eichinger; Fukuda

Nürnberg: Reichert; Janisch, Kalogeropoulos, Otto, Porstner; Markhiev, Fernandez; Becker; Justvan, Scobel, Zoma