Our prediction for this Bundesliga 2 match:
Koln
Match Time & Date:
02/08/2024
20:30
Prediction: 1-1
Hamburg
Koln and Hamburg face each other at RheinEnergieStadion in a highly-anticipated season opener on Friday evening. The Billy Goats are eyeing a quick return to the German top flight, but they face a difficult task in the opening match of the season. The club chiefs have added the likes of Rasmus Carstensen, Luca Waldschmidt, Mansour Ouro-Tagba, and Chilohem Onuoha to the squad, while centre-back Jeff Chabot is no longer part of the team.
Die Rothosen, on the other hand, aim to make amends for the unsuccessful 2023/2024 2. Bundesliga campaign. Davie Selke will play against his former club in Friday’s showdown, with the club owners signing the likes of Lukasz Poreba and Daniel Elfadli as well. Anyhow, a close encounter is on the cards at RheinEnergieStadion as Hamburg chiefs did well to reinforce the squad in the summer transfer window.
Highlighted Player (Ellyes Skhiri):
After spending his youth career at Montpellier, Ellyes Skhiri continued playing for la Paillade at senior level. In 2019 he moved to Bundesliga side Koln, signing a four-year contract with the Billy Goats. Shkiri was born in Lunel, France on May 10, 1995, but he has a dual citizenship as his parents are of Tunisia descent.
The Koln midfielder made debut with the Tunisian national team in a 1-0 win over Iran on March 23, 2018 and he represented Tunisia at the FIFA World Cup finals in Russia later that year. Ellyes Skhiri’s main position is defensive midfielder, but he is capable of producing fine performances at both right and centre back.
His preferred foot is right and he has a contract with Koln until June 30, 2026. The Tunisia international made his Bundesliga debut on August 17, 2019 in a 2-1 loss to Wolfsburg and he scored his first ever goal in the German top flight in a 2-1 win over Freiburg on August 31, 2019.
Highlighted Team (Hamburg):
Hamburg was founded in 1919 out of a fusion of 3 different football clubs from Hamburg. Because of the fusion the Hamburg SV have 4 official club colours which all are in the current home kit of the club. Hamburg SV is playing in the Bundesliga since the national league officialy started. Hamburg SV never played in another league than the Bundesliga. The best results of Hamburg SV were in the eighties where the club won the national league 2 times and the Europa Cup 1 once.
Since 1963 Hamburg is playing their home games in the Volksparstadium. In 1998 Hamburg SV changed to a new venue where the capacity 57 000 is. This is the venue where Hamburg SV is playing right now and is called the Imtech Arena. Because of international legislation the capacity in European games is 51500.
Known former players that played for Hamburg SV are: Van der Vaart, Beckenbauer, Ze Roberto, Guerrero and Felix Magath.
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