Fortuna Dusseldorf
vs
MSV Duisburg
Kick-off
18:30 GMT
02 October 2017
With the international less than one week away, there is still time for one more game in the 2. Bundesliga. As matchweek 9 comes to an end, Fortuna Dusseldorf and Duisburg face off on Monday night and both teams are desperate for points. Still joint with first-placed Holstein Kiel with a game in hand, three points for Dusseldorf will see them go top of the league. Their opponents are battling at the bottom end of the league. They are currently 15th and just a place above the relegation play-off place and a win could see them move up three places.
Dusseldorf would be expected to have dominated Duisburg in recent years but in the last five meetings, they have beaten them just once while losing two. The last match was two seasons ago and ended with the minnows, Duisburg, beating Dusseldorf 2-1 which meant they picked up four points in these fixtures. There hasn’t been a first-half goal between the two sides in four of the last five meetings.
A win for Dusseldorf will stand them in good stead going into this international break as they will have a three-point lead over the sides below them. They have a great chance to do that but Michael Rensing, their main goalkeeper is injured while Lukas Schmitz and Kaan Ayhan are suspended and won’t feature.
Latest matches: Fortuna Dusseldorf
23.09.2017 | ![]() |
FC St. Pauli | Fortuna Dusseldorf | 1:2 | W |
20.09.2017 | ![]() |
Fortuna Dusseldorf | SSV Jahn Regensburg | 1:0 | W |
17.09.2017 | ![]() |
Greuther Furth | Fortuna Dusseldorf | 3:1 | L |
10.09.2017 | ![]() |
Fortuna Dusseldorf | FC Union Berlin | 3:2 | W |
30.08.2017 | ![]() |
TSV Meerbusch | Fortuna Dusseldorf | 2:7 | W |
Duisburg must avoid defeat in this fixture or they could find themselves in serious trouble when the next matchweek comes around. They are without Zlatko Janjic, Tim Albutat and Borys Tashchy, one of their leading scorers. The first two are expected to be out for the rest of the year.
Latest matches: MSV Duisburg
22.09.2017 | ![]() |
MSV Duisburg | Holstein Kiel | 1:3 | L |
19.09.2017 | ![]() |
FC Ingolstadt | MSV Duisburg | 2:2 | D |
16.09.2017 | ![]() |
MSV Duisburg | 1 FC Nuremberg | 1:6 | L |
09.09.2017 | ![]() |
Arminia Bielefeld | MSV Duisburg | 0:4 | W |
02.09.2017 | ![]() |
MSV Duisburg | VfB Speldorf | 8:1 | W |
It’s easy to work out which of these two sides are favourites heading into the match and it is certainly the home team. Fortuna Dusseldorf should come away from the match with all three points due to home advantage as well as their superior squad strength. Duisburg have already beaten a strong side so they shouldn’t be written off, but the hosts should have too much quality.
02 October 2017 - 18:30 GMT
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