Our next opponents: Kiel seeking top-flight form

Position

Kiel are currently propping up the table five games into the season. Their sole point to date in the top flight came in a 2-2 draw away at Bochum. Otherwise, it’s been four defeats against Hoffenheim (3-2), Wolfsburg (2-0), Bayern Munich (6-1) and Eintracht Frankfurt (4-2). Their only win of this season came in the DFB Pokal first round at 3. Liga side Alemannia Aachen (3-2).

Holstein come to Leverkusen with a number of things they want to improve on compared to last week’s defeat at home to Frankfurt. “You saw we had problems as individuals defending against players,” said coach Marcel Rapp in his analysis. “We need to sort these things out as a team, need to be more compact and help each other more, press better.”

The Kiel boss is also aware of the difficulty facing his team to do that away at the domestic double winners. “Leverkusen and Bayern are the two biggest challenges. It’s for games like these that we gained promotion. It won’t be a game where we press high for 90 minutes or stand on the edge of our own box. It’ll be a mix of both.”

Personnel

Kiel lost two key players following promotion. Philipp Sander left a big hole in midfield as he departed for Borussia Mönchengladbach. Young left-back Tom Rothe was on loan at the Holstein-Stadion last season but has now joined Union Berlin. They’re two moves that haven’t quite been compensated for. However, Rapp, who arrived at the northern club as a youth coach from Hoffenheim in 2021, has proven in recent years that he can get the best out of his team with tactical flexibility.

The 45-year-old doesn’t just work developing young players but has also helped improve more experienced figures like Lewis Holtby and Steven Skrzybski. Holtby is the oldest member of the Kiel squad at 34 and is currently captain. The midfielder has moved around quite a bit in his career, with spells in Germany at Bochum, Mainz, Schalke and Hamburg, as well as stints in England at Tottenham Hotspur and Fulham. He was Holstein’s top source of goals in Bundesliga 2 last season with five scored and a further nine assists. Skrzybski is the second-oldest player at 31 and was their 10-goal top scorer last term as they sealed a maiden promotion to the Bundesliga. The forward missed the start of this season with a muscular injury but has made appearances off the bench in the last two games, underlining his importance to the team with an assist against Bochum. There’s a chance he may now be handed a start in Leverkusen.

Alongside Holtby and Skrzybski, other pillars of the promoted side include goalkeeper Timon Weiner, defender Timo Becker, midfielder Finn Porath and summer signing from Rostov, Magnus Knudsen, who has started all five Bundesliga games to date. There are also expectations in Kiel of another new arrival in Bosnia international Armin Gigovic, who’s been praised by his national team boss and former Bayer 04 player Sergej Barbarez. “Armin has brutal energy,” he said of the 22-year-old midfielder. Up front, Benedikt Pichler has established himself alongside Shuto Machino, while Alexander Bernhardsson is available again after injury. However, Rapp is set to bring his team to the BayArena without centre-back Carl Johansson (concussion) and left-back Andu Kelati (knee).

Problems

A solid defence was the foundation upon which Kiel built their promotion push last season, conceding just 39 goals – second only to champions St. Pauli (36). “Defence was our best area,” Porath said. Now they’re at a higher level, it’s become a concern. Holstein have already let in 17 goals from five games, which is the most of any team in the Bundesliga and works out at 3.4 per 90 minutes. “It’s really annoying. We can’t concede two or three goals every time,” said Skrzybski about those issues. Their last two home games against Bayern and Frankfurt have seen them ship six and four goals respectively, while they are yet to keep a clean sheet at the top level. That’s why Skrzybski is looking to reset things before visiting the champions: “We need to put that aside and get to grips with it, because the opponents aren’t getting any easier.”

Performers

Porath at least found some positives to take from last week’s loss to Frankfurt. “Our morale is spot on,” the 27-year-old stated after Kiel twice managed to level the game against Eintracht, while they also fought hard throughout their 2-2 draw in Bochum, where Machino’s equaliser in the 89th minute earned them their first-ever Bundesliga point. The 25-year-old Japanese forward has already scored four goals this season to sit joint-third in the division standings alongside Florian Wirtz.

The Storks have also scored 10 goals of their own in six competitive fixtures this season, with their sole blank being the 2-0 loss to Wolfsburg. The promoted side are often bold going forward, ranking midtable for shots, shots on target and chance conversion. The top-flight newcomers also boast passion, intensity and commitment, as shown in their duels and the distance they cover. They rank in the Bundesliga’s top five for kilometres per game.