2. Bundesliga Preview: 1. FC Magdeburg vs. Eintracht Braunschweig

Magdeburg and Eintracht Braunschweig will lock horns on Saturday afternoon as they both hope to avoid a relegation scrap this time out. Both teams secured their safety on the final matchday last term.

It is a repeat of last season’s opening day fixture at Avnet-Arena. The visitors played the majority of the second-half with ten after Kevin Ehlers’ sending off, but they took all three points with Mehmet Aydin scoring a late winner for Braunschweig.

Magdeburg did finish above Braunschweig with the two teams sitting just above the relegation zone. Petrik Sander’s team focused on extending contracts of key players this summer, while Braunschweig added former prospects Noah Katterbach, Florian Flick and Junior Ze to their depleted squad.

Team News

Magdeburg’s Zambian international Lubambo will be sidelined for months after suffering an ACL injury in the final game of last season. Meanwhile, Braunschweig midfielders Lino Tempelmann and Robin Heußer are unavailable due to injuries.

Predicted Lineups

Magdeburg: Reimann ©; Bockhorn, Jaeckel, MacNulty, Nollenberger; Hyryläinen; Michel, Kwarteng; Iyoha, Atik; Zukowski

Braunschweig: Hoffmann ©; Aydin, Ehlers, Hoti, Katterbach; Flick; di Benedetto, Marie; Zé, Opoku, Sturm