Our next opponents: A band of brothers with loads of confidence

Position

FC Heidenheim are unbeaten in the last eight Bundesliga matches. Only Bayer 04, their next opponents, have a longer run without defeat (21 games, 17 wins, four draws). Wins against Darmstadt, Mainz and Freiburg were followed by draws against FC Köln, Wolfsburg, Hoffenheim and Borussia Dortmund. Last weekend, Heidenheim spoiled the party for the 125th anniversary of Werder Bremen with a 2-1 away win. Bremen had been on a run of seven games without losing. However, they quickly went behind to FCH. A corner from Jan-Niklas Beste was headed in by Lennard Maloney (12’) and Beste scored himself with a tap-in six minutes later (18'). Werder Bremen did quickly pull a goal back (19') but Heidenheim held on thanks to lots of commitment and the necessary fortune – Werder hit the woodwork three times.

"It wasn't about crashing a party today," said FCH coach Frank Schmidt after the game. "It was about producing a good performance. We had a strong 20 to 25 minutes, won a lot of corners that were almost all incredibly dangerous as is often the case with Jan-Niklas Beste," said Schmidt. And, as so often this season, Beste was the best player in his team at Werder Bremen. An untiring instigator, a provider and goalscorer. The second away win this season saw Heidenheim move up to ninth in the table. And the 16 points from the last eight Bundesliga fixtures (four wins, four draws) have given the newly promoted club a comfortable cushion over the relegation zone. They are already 15 points ahead of Mainz currently lying 17th in the table. A look in the other direction shows the European qualifying positions are not so far away: Eintracht Frankfurt in sixth only have a five-point lead.

Personnel

Frank Schmidt may well rely on his established line-up against Bayer 04. The longest serving Bundesliga coach, now in his 17th season with the Red, Blue and Whites, has fielded the same starting XI in the last two games. The captain Patrick Mainka and Benedikt Gimber are the central defenders ahead of goalkeeper Kevin Müller. Omar Traoré and Jonas Föhrenbach are the wide defenders in the back four. Lennard Maloney and Jan Schöppner play in central midfield. Maloney, with 250 kilometres covered in 21 games, has run the furthest of any player in the league. He is followed in the rankings by the two Leverkusen players Granit Xhaka (249.87 km) and Alejandro Grimaldo (244.46 km). The offensive midfielders for Heidenheim are Jan-Niklas Beste and the lightning-fast Bremen loanee Eren Dinkci, who is the top scorer in the team with seven goals. Playing up front are Tim Kleindienst (six goals, three assists) and Marvin Pieringer (two goals). Only central defender Thomas Keller (torn cruciate) and striker Elidon Qenaj (rehab training) are unavailable for the game against the Werkself.

Performers

Frank Schmidt said the victory in Bremen was down to passion. But he was also impressed with his players' quality on the pitch. The FCH coach has turned his team into a band of brothers and their confidence has increased enormously over the past few weeks and their defence is more solid. FCH have only conceded eight goals in the eight games unbeaten. In terms of work rate, Heidenheim are top of the league with 2,557 kilometres covered in 21 games. "We have to continue to be able to stretch ourselves and suffer," declared Schmidt. But it would be completely wrong to reduce the club to their qualities in running, battling and scrapping. Along with the Werkself, Heidenheim are the second best team in transition play after Borussia Dortmund. Bayer 04 will also have to do be on their toes for the Heidenheim corners mostly taken by Jan-Niklas Beste, which have already led to eight goals – only the Werkself (9) and Borussia Mönchengladbach (10) have been more successful here. Beste is by far the best provider at FCH with six goals and ten assists.

Problems

Tim Kleindienst and Co. missed some good chances in the goalless draw with Borussia Dortmund. And the visitors could have clocked up a bigger margin of victory in the 2-1 win at Werder Bremen if they had taken a number of clear-cut chances. Heidenheim did have luck on their side with Werder hitting the woodwork three times. FCH have allowed their opponents a relatively large amount of space at the back. The 340 shots on their own goal to date is the second highest number after Borussia Mönchengladbach (362). Heidenheim are also susceptible at set pieces with 14 goals conceded from dead balls so far.

Prediction

Always keeping your feet on the ground – Heidenheim have done very well from this maxim in their first season in the Bundesliga. They are sticking to that even this successful phase. "We are newly promoted, we want to stay up. We shouldn't lose sight of the key aims," said Schmidt in an interview with SWR-Sport. "We have got ourselves into a good position but we really need to put in the effort a few times to pick up the necessary points to stay up. We can't afford to dream at all." His team are difficult to beat at home. At the Voith Arena, the highest ground in German professional football (554.4 metres above sea level), Heidenheim have not lost since the 5-2 defeat against Augsburg in October 2023. Now they face a number of tough challenges in the Alpine air in the coming weeks. The Werkself are followed by Eintracht Frankfurt, Borussia Mönchengladbach, Bayern Munich and RB Leipzig. They have respect but no fear for the big clubs. "We have shown we can compete throughout the season," said the skipper Patrik Mainka. Speaking ahead of the clash with Bayer 04, Frank Schmidt said: "It will be an incredible challenge as the differences could not be bigger." But the coach added: "Sometimes in life, you have to try the impossible to achieve the possible. But we don't know what the possible is for us." It does look like nobody in the Swabian Alps will have to worry about relegation this season.