SV Darmstadt 98 2026/27 season preview: Transfers, pre-season, predicted lineup & predictions

SV Darmstadt 98 are targeting a return to Bundesliga football in their third season under Florian Kohfeldt. However, the completely new-look attacking line could find it hard to replicate the form of last season's 2. Bundesliga deadly duo.

How was their 2025/26?

Last season, Isac Lidberg and Fraser Hornby were directly involved in 20 and 19 goals, respectively. While Noel Futkeu is the only player to score more than Lidberg’s 17-goal tally, the Scotsman added eight assists on top of reaching double digits for the second season running.

The two strikers were vital for the promotion race as Darmstadt were unbeaten at home until a 2-0 reverse to Hannover on matchday 29. They were still in the mix for promotion after that defeat, but Kohfeldt’s men only collected two points from the last five games of the season.

If we’re willing to go back further, the Lilies were in second place after a 2-0 win over ten-man Holstein Kiel on matchday 25. However, that remained the last victory for the team that only lost three times prior to that point as they finally settled for a fifth-placed finish, ten points adrift of the promotion playoff spot.

The Coach

Florian Kohfeldt returned to German football in 2024 after a brief spell at KAS Eupen. The former goalkeeper lost 21 of his 31 games in charge of the Belgian club as they ended up getting relegated after replacing him with a caretaker coach for the relegation playoff round.

Kohfeldt then replaced Torsten Lieberknecht at Darmstadt after the relegated club started their 2. Bundesliga campaign with one point from the first four games. After a 12th-placed finish in his debut season, the 43-year-old coach managed to get the best out of the team last season.

With his Bundesliga experience at Werder Bremen and Wolfsburg, Kohfeldt was exposed to high-level management at a young age. Leading Darmstadt to their fifth Bundesliga promotion could revive the previous comparisons with Julian Nagelsmann.

Transfers

For that to happen, Kohfeldt and English sporting director Paul Fernie should address the gaps left by the departure of key players this summer. Swedish striker Lidberg joined Borussia Mönchengladbach, while Hornby signed for 2. Bundesliga rivals Wolfsburg.

Darmstadt will also lose the architects of 14 goals from last season as Marco Richter and Sergio López returned to their parent club and country, respectively. Although they did earn nearly €10 million from the transfers of the two strikers and Killian Corredor (Nantes), the promotion hopefuls are yet to spend a little more than €500k for a new signing.

Ho-jae Lee is the undisputed marquee signing for the two-time second-division champions. The South Korean striker scored 23 K League 1 goals for Pohang Steelers since the start of the 2025 season. The 25-year-old took the number 9 shirt in his first European football experience.

Lars Kehl is another newcomer for the final third after he played a big part in VfL Osnabrück’s rise to the 2. Bundesliga. The attacking midfielder was directly involved in 20 goals as the Purple-Whites finished top of the 3. Liga standings.

Kehl isn’t the only former SC Freiburg youngster to join Darmstadt this summer as fellow 24-year-old Noah Weißhaupt finally left the Breisgau-Brasilianer on a permanent transfer. The former Germany U21 international played in 2. Bundesliga for Hannover in the second half of last season on a loan deal.

Christopher Lannert could be López’s replacement in the right-back position, while left-back Florian Kleinhansl joined from Kaiserslautern with long-serving captain Fabian Holland leaving the club. Meanwhile, attackers Ibrahim El Kadiri, Nicolas Verkooijen and Lance Duijvestijn all signed from Dutch clubs.

Darmstadt were also interested in signing Azerbaijani midfielder Aykhan Hüseynov before he opted to stay in his home country. Elversberg’s Carlo Sickinger is the oldest new signing at the age of 28, while experienced center-back Matej Maglica is heavily linked with a move to Kaiserslautern.

Pre-season preparations

After scoring 24 goals in their first four friendlies against low-tier opponents, Darmstadt closed their pre-season with a goalless draw against Championship side Portsmouth at Bollenfalltor. Kohfeldt only used 14 players in the final test one week before the start of the season.

Summer signings Weißhaupt, El Kadiri, Kehl, Verkooijen and Duijvestijn all scored during pre-season, while Fynn Lakenmacher grabbed a hat-trick in the 7-2 win over newly-promoted 3. Liga side SG Sonnenhof Großaspach. Lee made his debut as a substitute against Portsmouth a few days after completing his move.

Predicted starting lineup

The 1.92m-tall Lee, who started playing football as a center-back, is planned to be the star striker. Hiroki Akiyama and Kai Klefisch’s partnership will continue in midfield, while Kohfeldt could opt for either 4-2-3-1 or 3-4-2-1 instead of a two-striker system. Darmstadt could look for a replacement if the goal-scoring center-back Maglica leaves this month.

Predicted Lineup (3-4-2-1): Schuhen ©; Pfeiffer, Vukotic, Maglica; Kleinhansl, Akiyama, Klefisch, Lannert; El Kadiri, Weißhaupt; Lee

Fixture list

Darmstadt will open the campaign at home against Holstein Kiel on Saturday before a trip to Dynamo Dresden the following week. Regionalliga outfit FC Carl Zeiss Jena will be their opponents in the first round of the DFB-Pokal.

Kohfeldt’s men produced one of their best performances of last season in a 4-0 victory over Schalke in the cup before they were knocked out by Freiburg in the Round of 16. The Siegen native will return to Volkswagen Arena on matchday six for the game against Wolfsburg. Their last league game of the season is away at Osnabrück.

Expectations & Prediction

A top-half finish will be the minimum expectation after last season’s entertaining campaign by Darmstadt. An improvement in their defensive record could help in bettering last season's finish, but they should also properly replace Lidberg, Hornby and Richter in the final third.