2. Bundesliga Sunday Preview: Top three play at home

Schalke, Elversberg, and Darmstadt started matchday 16 at the summit of the 2. Bundesliga standings. The three teams will be in action on Sunday afternoon with home games.

FC Schalke 04 vs. 1. FC Nürnberg

Miroslav Klose scored five goals against Schalke as a player. On Sunday, the World Cup’s all-time top-scorer will lock horns with them as Nürnberg’s coach. Schalke only lost once in their last 11 games against Der Club, winning eight in the process.

The Royal Blues managed to stay at the top of the table for successive matchdays thanks to wins over Düsseldorf and Paderborn. Nürnberg are in midtable, but they have only lost one of their previous eight games. They drew 2-2 with Greuther Fürth in the Bavarian derby last week.

Predicted Lineups

Schalke: Karius; Ayhan, Katic, Kurucay; El-Faouzi, Pöpperl; Wallentowitz, V. Becker; Antwi-Adjei, Karaman ©; Sylla

Nürnberg: Reichert; Drexler, Gruber ©, Lochoshvili, Yilmaz; Markhiev; Becker, Lubach; Justvan, Stepanov, Zoma

SV 07 Elversberg vs. Fortuna Düsseldorf

Second-placed Elversberg will have a chance to boost promotion hopes when they host Fortuna Düsseldorf. Younes Ebnoutalib helped the surprise packages to a 2-1 win in Paderborn last time out, while Düsseldorf lost at home to Schalke. Tim Oberdorf is suspended for the visitors, while Christian Rasmussen will miss the game with illness.

Düsseldorf came away with a 5-0 victory at Ursapharm-Arena an der Kaiserlinde a couple of years ago, but that was their only victory in six head-to-head games against Elversberg. However, they’re unbeaten in three away duels with the other two ending in draws.

Predicted Lineups

Elversberg: Kristof; Gyamerah, Pinckert ©, Le Joncour, Keidel; Schmahl, Poreba; Petkov, Conté, Zimmerschied; Ebnoutalib

Düsseldorf: Kastenmeier ©; Zimmermann, Egouli, Daland, Iyoha; El Azzouzi, Breithaupt; Rasmussen, Muslija, Suso; Itten

SV Darmstadt 98 vs. SC Preußen Münster

Simultaneously, third-placed Darmstadt will host Preußen Münster. The two teams met at this level last season for the first time since 1991, with both games ending in stalemates.

The visitors salvaged a point in a dramatic fashion last week by scoring two injury-time goals against Hannover. Darmstadt will continue to miss Fraser Hornby, but the league’s joint top-scorer Isac Lidberg helped them to a rollercoaster 3-2 win over Karlsruhe last time out.

Predicted Lineups

Darmstadt: Schuhen ©; Bader, Pfeiffer, Maglica, Nürnberger; Klefisch, Akiyama; Richter, Corredor, Marseiler; Lidberg

Münster: Schenk; ter Horst, Heuer, Jaeckel, Bolay; Benger; Bouchama, Hendrix ©; Mees; Amenyido, Batista Meier